


Donuts be Damned

by Kickylee



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Fated Match, Fluff and Smut, Fluffyfest, Slow Build, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, cavity inducing, slow burn smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:47:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 86,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23828587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kickylee/pseuds/Kickylee
Summary: Throughout damn near 20 years of working to the bone for anyone and everyone she could, she has never been as blindsided as now. She had long since given up on finding her fated match, not as though she cared to begin with. The soulmate marks appear at various times on every person, all dependent on the goddess Branwen. By far not the oddest thing that occurs in the mystical world of One Piece, yet a fate many fight and deny. Always one to roll with the punches Fiadh has lived a life of solitude yet hard work. Food wasn't going to inspect itself after all.
Relationships: Charlotte Katakuri/Original Character(s), Charlotte Katakuri/Original Female Character(s), Portgas D. Ace/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 100





	1. Alabasta Pit-stop

**Author's Note:**

> Trying something new, chapter two will be the real beginning of the fun stuff. First chapter is some foundation and background. Please let me know what you think and if you'd want more!

In the Kingdom of Alabasta it’s a perfectly hot, sunny day as always in the sandy land. The current king Nefertari Cobra is found seated at his desk in exacerbation staring at the paper in his hands. His daughter Vivi was peaking through the door worrying over her father and then quickly dashed off on a mission. He had been ill for some time now yet still pushed himself past his limits for his kingdom. 

Cobra mumbles to himself as he searches his desk for his Den Den Mushi to call the only person he can think of to reach out to for help. As soon as he finds it he wastes no time dialing a well known number. 

“Purupurupuru… purupurupuru… purupurupuru…”

Cobra let out a heavy sigh as the incessant call noise continued on and on with no answer. As he reaches to put the receiver back on the stand he hears the distinct “Gacha” as the call finally connects. Perking up he waits expectantly for some sort of response.

“AHHHH~ Good morning Cobra-san…” The Den Den Mushi’s face stretches into a yawn then a lazy, half-lidded expression.

“It’s evening here..” Cobra responds with a chuckle.

“Oh, semantics… Whatcha call me for? You never call without reason…”

“Well I was in need of you… expertise. I can’t say much more over this line, but I’d like to make an appointment. As soon as you can get here.” He wastes no time trying to deny her statement and gets to the point. He’s learned over the years that his friend was a no nonsense kind of person.

“Hmmm… I can be there in acouple days if it’s that important. I’m in the New World right now dealing with some shit, but for you I can put it on pause!” The Den Den Mushi’s face contorts into a sly smirk that says this will definitely cost the king. “How are you by the way?”

The king hums to himself in thought before resigning himself with an “Ah, I guess I have no choice regardless… Just let me know around when you will get here when you know. I’m still alive as you can hear, we can catch up properly while you are here.”

“Pleasure as always old friend! See you in three days time. I’ll leave here later this evening, and call when I’m close. Stay safe, and healthy!” A chipper voice came from the Den Den that sounded much more awake. Then the call was quickly ended and the snail went back to sleep.

Letting out a great big sigh for the millionth time that day the king leaned back in his chair feeling the grey hairs coming in as the seconds ticked by. Just as he was closing his eyes for a minute of peace a loud knock sounded at his door. Groaning he called whoever it was inside. 

Vivi waited in the hall patiently until her father was clearly no longer talking to whoever was on the other side of the Den Den Mushi. Then she knocked after a few minutes of silence from the office. As she walked in the tray in hand her father's face went from drawn in a perfect mask of calm to a large smile as he saw his daughter. 

The king sighed in relief seeing his lovely daughter coming through the door, with snacks and cold beverages to boot! He grinned widely at his daughter as she gracefully cleared space on his desk for the tray.

“How are you my daughter?”

“I’m fine father. However, you look absolutely exhausted… You need to take care of yourself more and stop taking on all this work!” As she finished admonishing her father she began looking at the growing mountain of papers with a distraught gaze. 

“Ohh nonsense! I am as strong as an ox, your dad can handle this much easily.” He grinned smartly at his daughter trying to get her to leave it for now.

Vivi catching on quickly just sighed and turned to the snacks and drinks. “Well would you like to take a break and enjoy these together at the very least?”

“Of course Vivi! Let’s go out onto the balcony and enjoy the evening air.” 

Three days later a large shadow was cast over the capital of Alabasta early in the morning as a massive, black vulture looking bird landed just outside in the desert. A person shrouded in a dark colored cloak lined in wool can be seen jumping down from the birds back. Waving back at the bird the person heads straight into the capital with a small sack thrown over their shoulder and beelines towards the palace. Pulling out a Den Den Mushi the person quickly makes a call.

“Purupurupuru… purupurupuru… Gacha”

“Hello?” questioned King Cobra through the Den Den.

“Hi! I’m here!” sounded the chipper person's voice back.

“WHAT?! You told me you’d let me know when you were close, not when you were here!” The king was sent into a coughing fit from screaming. He also immediately thought about all the orders he’d need to disseminate to prepare for their guest.

“Oh… Did I? Eh, oh well… I can stay at an inn if it’s too much of a hindrance. At your expense that is.” came the cheeky response from the other side.

A heavy sigh can be heard with the king's defeat. “No, no. Just come to the palace I will come meet you and see if Vivi is around too.”

“Alrighty!” “Gacha”

Giggling slightly the person picks up their strides as their cloak clearly not suited for the desert kingdom billows around them. They tower over the locals and they either hurriedly rush by them or stare in open curiosity.

**_____________**

Striding up the stairs to the palace two at a time with long legs the person makes a direct path to King Cobra seated in his wheelchair at the top surrounded by well trained guards and his head guard Chaka. Vivi is viewed riding Karoo at top speed stopping beside her father with labored breaths for the both of them in obvious work clothes covered in sand and dust. Making their way quickly up to them, stopping at eye level, the new arrival is greeted with a wide smile from both the princess and king as they drag the hood of their cloak off their head. 

The tall woman stood with pride as she looked on the king and princess with a large grin on her face. She was around 3 meters tall easily towering over everyone there, however, she did not lord this over those around her. Her face was pleasant with a splash of freckles that hid her age, and hair a shocking fiery red with grey calculating eyes. She had a number of thin scars visible on her arms with a distinct one starting on the bottom of her left jaw that disappeared into the cloak.

“Fia! It’s been so long!” Vivi squealed as she launched herself at the giant of a woman, who barely budged from the added weight, and wrapped her arms around the woman’s neck.

Chuckling softly the woman responded while patting the princess on the head. “Hi to you too Vivi. It’s been a while.”

“Did you grow again?!” Vivi said in shock as she stepped back to look at the woman.

“Hmm… maybe? I believe you’re the one who’s truly grown up missy!” The older woman chuckled as she pointedly stared at Vivi’s clear arrival at being a woman.

“Now, now Fiadh Dartraigh don’t torment my daughter too much. She’s still a delicate, blossoming princess.” The king said in a sarcastically scolding tone.

Fia snorted at the king's use of her full name and stared openly at Vivi with pride while saying ”Don’t even try that nonsense. I get the news coos yah know? I’m well aware of what the rogue princess has been up to.”

It had been a year since the Strawhat kid had come and wreaked havoc in the sandy kingdom and some months since news of the crews disappearance. Though Vivi seemed all smiles right now Fia could piece together it was affecting her.

Vivi turned bright red as she quickly looked at her feet in embarrassment at Fia’s comment.

Fia then turned to take in the king’s paled skin, greying hair, and wheelchair and coldly stated, “You look like hell old friend… I was aware you had gotten ill but you didn’t tell me how bad it had gotten.”

“Don’t go trying to mother me Fiadh, I’m getting older so this is to be expected. Not all of us can retain our youth like you!” The king finished with a light chuckle but his words seemed like hollow excuses.

Simply grunting in response Fia did not look pleased by that response in the least. Though the king was 8 years older he should not have ages this much in such a short amount of time. 

The king smiled warmly at the giant-esse and said “Why don’t we go inside and continue this conversation?” He follows this up by pointing behind Fia at the crowd of Alabastians forming around the palace staircase to see what was going on. This also makes Fia notice the uncomfortable guards standing behind the king, clearly new and not used to someone of the woman’s height. The only one who didn’t react to her was Chaka, who merely smirked at her before going back to stone faced.

**_____________**

Once inside and settled at a table King Cobra wastes no time getting right to business and allows princess Vivi to stay to both learn and spend time with Fia. Igaram was also there listening intently, sitting in as an advisor.

Placing the papers from his desk in front of Fia he says “Please look this over and then we will discuss what I need your help with.”

Nodding Fia wordlessly gets to work scanning the pages at a scary pace. What she sees is not good, however, her face does not react. Their food in Alabasta was in a critical place due to the agricultural land not being able to establish itself again fast enough and merchants completely leaving the kingdom off their routes. Done in under a minute she looks up and waits for the king to begin speaking.

“So… What do you think?”

“Well as your old friend I am glad you have finally completely removed the last of Crocodile’s control over your country. I would have stepped in had you forbade me. As a professional… You are fucked as of right now. Why did you not call me sooner Cobra-san?” She looks cooly down at the papers again showing no emotion. Mentally she’s making a note again to meet this Monkey boy and properly thank him for helping her friend.

The king sighed and quickly said “Yes, I am aware. I need your expertise to help me figure out some plan and get a trustworthy and sustainable flow of merchants coming here once again. I did not want to drag you into this after your warning last time.”

Igaram gazed down at his white knuckles as he said, “Fiadh-sama we will do anything to insure this country's prosperity as you are well aware.”

“Ah, I figured as much Igaram. But, this will not be easy, even with me…” She gazed down at the table immediately analyzing everything. Her gaze had a mixture of anger and frustration pointed at herself for the King’s comment, however, she kept this internalized. 

Vivi who was sitting quietly the entire time chimed in “There has to be something we can do Fia-neesan…”

Gaze instantly softening Fia glances over at Vivi. She was young and still had a hard time separating her personal emotions from work, but she had time to grow and be a wonderful compassionate leader. “There is, there is always a way if there is a will. We will do our best to ensure this works.” Turning to King Cobra Fia looks at him with calculating eyes again as she states “I think I have a plan.”

For the first time in months Cobra sighs in relief rather than in defeat. “Please Fiadh, we will do anything.” 

With a glint and her signature smirk Fia replies “I’m a world class food inspector Cobra-san. Rest assured, this will be resolved before you know it!”

And so began Fia’s time planning and executing her scheme to save the desert kingdom from starvation. While this was not anything new for Fia she still took great joy in her job and always took it seriously. 

By the end of it all she had spent a week in Alabasta working nonstop besides Vivi and Karoo break times and interruptions to insure she ate food, slept, and got sunlight. As she was always reminded, humans are basically plants just with complicated emotions. Karoo was quite fond of Fia as she could understand him, and would communicate as though he were a human rather than just a cute pet. Vivi appreciated having a translator too of course. 

**_____________**

While this was one of Fia’s longer commissions she was completely content to be doing her job for people she genuinely liked for once. She was well known for a reason. Notorious for working as a food inspector and specialist in managing food budgets for both pirates, the Marines. And the World Government, her name was well known. However, anything more than her name remained a mystery to almost all her clientele. 

Her policy was she would work for anyone regardless of which “side” they were on so long as they paid and genuinely cared for the well being of their people. Which normally shows through their desire to have someone like her come in and make sure the food quality, amount, and further supply is acceptable. 

She was actually first a trained veterinarian and also hopped around at various clinics to do complicated surgeries when needed. While her passions are split between these two jobs she primarily works as a food inspector as for her it reaches far more people and saves lives. 

After finishing up the last of the paperwork to go to King Cobra in the morning regarding the merchants coming through for a test run of making a new stop in Alabasta she leaned back with a big stretch. Getting up she quickly changed into pajamas of shorts and a tanktop and then crawled into the extra large bed prepared for her, laying ontop of a thin sheet where she knew she’d be getting no sleep anytime soon. 

This was probably her last night in Alabasta as she had gotten a call two days ago regarding a very angry Yonko wanting immediate, in person service from Fia. While she had been avoiding doing actual inperson business with any of the Yonko’s for years, however, she couldn’t risk sparking the temper of this one this time. 

The night before she had done her ritual drinking until completely shit faced with Cobra as they reminisced about their younger years. All the foolish things they had both done in their youth made for hours of entertainment. Then she had drunkenly spent far too much time in their bath, by far the best part of the castle. 

The lively dinners and comfortable atmosphere is always bittersweet to have to leave every time. This was the only place Fiadh could feel this at home anymore in this world. However, she knew better than to spend too much time in one place and to show any clear favoritism in her line of work. She would never forgive herself if any harm befell the Alabasta kingdom due to her.

She felt the presence of princess Vivi enter the range of her kenbunshoku haki as she hesitates at the door before knocking. She calls her in and Vivi shuffles towards the only lamp she’d left on by her bed. Fia viewed this as a welcome interruption to her thoughts of the next day.

“Um… Fia-neesan…” She hesitates, staring at her feet with bright red ears that make me chuckle and finishes her sentence at lightning speed, “can I stay here with you for the night?!” 

“Of course my imouto. I’d love to have a proper girls night before I leave!” Chuckling Fia sits up and stares at the girl who isn’t even half my age yet treats her like a sister. She was much closer in age to her Father which was rather comical given she looked far younger than him. Some just age better than others, and the weight of an entire Kingdom would age anyone prematurely.

“Thank you!” Vivi’s eyes light up as she sticks her head out my door to call Karoo in, who comes running in with his blanket and pillow all ready to go. Vivi was dressed in a light nightgown and had also clearly come prepared for the sleep over with a pillow in hand. 

Ginning Fia opens her arms for Vivi to jump into her well endowed chest that matches the rest of her giant-ness, as they both snuggle close to begin their typical girls night of talking until Vivi passes out. While Vivi had her head tucked under Fiadh’s chin she looked like a 10 year old child due to the size difference. However, this has never concerned the two of them. Lots of gossiping about the court in the kingdom, what Vivi’s been busy doing, details on her escapades with Baroque works and the strawhat pirates ensued. All the while Fia was harassed about not being married yet and a work-a-holic. 

Vivi reached up and traced Fiadh’s most prominent scar that runs down from her cheekbone, across her shoulder, and just above her left wrist without saying a word only lightly yawning. Fia stifles a shutter of pain from having the sensitive skin touched and does her best not to react at all. Instead she begins to hum a lullaby her mother sang to her when she was a child.

Breaking the silence, with heavy lidded eyes from sleepiness, Vivi mumbles sadly, “Do you think I’ll get my mark soon neesan?”

In this world everyone was born with a fated match or a soulmate as some call it. While this person never changes, the marks do not always appear right away. Fia had been the one to explain this to Vivi after she saw her dad staring at a faded black blob on his arm with sorrowful eyes. Her mother had passed when she was young and could barely even remember her, but Fia did and she would talk about Vivi’s mother with her anytime she wished even explained how she was Cobra’s match. 

There were quite a few presumptions on the mystical marks that people in this world got. Some people followed their marks to find their true love, while others ignored it and continued on in life. Regardless, it is said to only appear when the goddess of love, Branwen, deemed the pair at a point in which they morally and mentally matched each other as was predicted. Another way they appear is if the fated pair meet in some way, as in fully acknowledge the others existence. This way has been known to end catastrophically if they’re not at a point of being compatible. 

Brushing her long blue hair Fia hushes her softly and says, “Silly girl you aren’t even 18 yet and you’re worrying about such things… You will have the most beautiful mark ever graced by the goddess of love when it is time. For now be patient and enjoy your freedom. Trust in Branwen child.” 

As much as Vivi treats Fia as a sister she is also aware of the motherly role she steps into at times.

Vivi looks up at Fia and questions softly, “Do you have a mark neesan?”

Smiling sadly Fia nods her head in affirmation.

Sitting up and suddenly more awake Vivi looks at Fia incredulously, “REALLY?! And you never told me??”

Fia follows Vivi’s movement and simply responds, “It only recently appeared Vivi. You know I wouldn’t hide something like this from you. Before you ask, no I do not know who my matched person is, and yes you can see the mark.”

Turning around a black mark shaped in a perfect circle with a thick line and what appeared to be a black blurry outline of a feather in the middle was placed on Fia’s right shoulder blade. Vivi reached out and traced the thick lined circle in awe. 

“Neesan it looks so pretty!” Vivi exclaims, sounding distinctly jealous.

Giggling Fia turns around and says “I’m certain you will have your own before you know it!” 

Vivi sighs and jokingly whines, “I don’t know if I can wait until I’m your age to have my mark appear… That’d be centuries!”

Fia half-heartedly glares at the young girl and says “Quiet brat! Or you can go back to your own bed to sleep tonight.” 

The only times Vivi brought up the age gap between the two women was in joking jabs like this and Fia luckily found it more endearing than anything else.

Vivi promptly wails and apologizes profusely for her joke. Fia just pats her on the head and wraps her arms around the girl as they settle back down to actually sleep.

“I’m really glad you got your mark neesan… When you find your fated match you have to bring them to meet me and father.” Vivi is quickly succumbing to sleep as she mumbles this.

Petting her head and humming a lullaby Fia responds softly, “Of course. It will be at the top of my list.”

Vivi falling into a peaceful slumber left Fia to her thoughts about her mark, where her work was sending her next, and many many other useless thoughts. Using breathing meditation techniques Fia finally manages to fall into a light, peaceful slumber with a princess Vivi using her chest as a pillow. 

**_____________**

The next day Fia was fully packed to go, donning appropriate attire for her flight and next stop. The giantesse was wearing tight dark blue skinny jeans with black kneehigh boots, a green t-shirt that said “crimin” across the bust, a black sash across her waist that secured a katana, and her traveling cloak draped over one shoulder. Comfortable, yet practical was always Fiadh’s style. She knew what territory she was going into next and though she disliked fighting she would if need be.

As bitter sweet as always she let Vivi wrap her arms around her hips in a hug demanding too many things all at once. King Cobra looked at Vivi’s teary eyes with sorrow, but they both understood what Fiadh’s job required from her. 

“Come back and visit soon nee-san…” Vivi chokes out between sobs keeping her face firmly planted in the women's jeans.

Karoo was also there standing slightly behind the group tearing up as well. Ruffling his feathers he sadly honks out a goodbye to Fia.

“Yes, please come visit without the business portion next time Fiadh-san. You need a vacation. I say this as your fellow-workaholic friend.” King Cobra finishes with a chuckle staring at Fia with friendly affection.

A warmth spreads through Fia’s body as she makes sure to soak up this moment to remember. 

“Of course. If I don’t come back in six months time give me a call and have Vivi guilt trip me into taking a proper vacation! It’s long overdue as is.” Fia pats Vivi on the head ruffling her hair while reaching and patting the king on the shoulder. 

Vivi begins sniffling more before stepping away from her to crane her neck up at Fia who crouched down to properly hug the small desert princess. “A promise is a promise nee-san!”

“Of course Vivi.”

Right on cue a shadow casts over them as Fiadh’s ride shows up. The black vulture lands at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the palace where they were all standing. Fia heads off down them waving over her shoulder at the princess and king without looking back save for a large smile. 

Oh, what I wouldn’t give to stay here and not go to the next job Fia thinks to herself, blaming the watery eyes on the infernal sand. Nimbly jumping onto the birds' back she gets settled, grabbing the leather harness and verbally urging it onto their next stop. With every powerful push of the bird's wings the Kingdom of Alabasta further disappeared, and so Fiadh's journey back to the New World began.

Fiadh's mark


	2. The Dreaded Tea Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh is faced with the dreaded tea party. Though she makes an unsuspected friend beforehand and is further troubled by her mark. Will she make it through the even while keeping her head?

At the beginning of the fourth day of the trip Fiadh had changed into some nicer clothes than her usual casual attire for travel as she did not know what to expect. The white button-up with thin gold details on the cuff and collar were tucked into black jeans and her black tall boots. Her sash was a deep forest green holding her katana and held by a golden clasp rather than a knot. The woman glanced down at her katana that she had meticulously sharpened and cared for the night before and thumbed over the white thread braided with black on the hilt. Though its scabbard was a plain black the blade itself was engraved with her last name and a tree.

Around her neck was a gold locket with a matching tree engraved onto it, and her hair was half twisted up into a gold pin in the shape of a dragon clearly from the Wano kingdom. Though she had kept the travelling cloak on for now as she did not want to be cold for no reason. She had little hope in her hair staying tamed by the end of the flight, however, she did put some effort in. 

They had entered Toto island an hour ago and it would take them a few more until the main island came into view. Fiadh has yet to be given anything to work with for this project so she was going in blind which she normally would not accept. Yet here she was. The weird weather was also throwing her off as cotton candy fell from the sky and parts of the ocean looked like juice.

When the time suddenly went by far faster than she wanted it to, Whole cake island came into view and Fia felt a range of emotions ranging from disgust to curiosity. The whole island seemed to be made out of food as she expected, however, from a food inspector point of view it disgusted her to see people walking on it, living in it, and seemingly eating it. Darra landed by the coast as instructed where a hoard of people could be seen waiting.

While Fiadh quickly dismounted and waved Darra off she turned to take in the colorful assortment of people in front of her. She assumed most of them were Big Mom’s children though she waited for one of them to step forward first. Standing at a comfortable distance she took in that they were all exceptionally tall, so much so she felt rather average in height. Fia also felt all their eyes boring into her, especially onto her katana at her side.

“Right on time as expected perorin~” said the tall lanky man holding a lollipop.

“Ah, I kept my word. So… We getting right to business?” Fria gruffly responds. His voice sounded familiar meaning she had probably dealt with him previously over a Den Den Mushi.

“Oh, how rude of me! I’m Perospero perorin.” he says with a mocking bow, completely ignoring Friadh’s question. He stood almost eye to eye with Fia in height giving him a clear view of her growing annoyance.

A tick mark quickly appears on Fria’s forehead at the clear dismissal, but she takes a deep breath and responds curtly, “Friadh Dartraight, food inspector specialist.” 

None of the siblings seemed amused at my response. Though at Perospero pointing at them all the other people there announced who they were. She heard negative mumblings about her height and appearance from them but could not pinpoint who said what, she dismissed all of it. The only exception was one who stepped up to introduce himself. 

“I am Oven. 4th son of Big Mom.” said the man who towered over Fia with weird shaped orange hair and a cocky smirk on his face.

Nodding her head slightly she did her best to straighten out the names she’d just been barraged with and the only ones that stuck were Brulee, Compote, Cracker, and Chiffon. She felt she got most of them but definitely not all, and there were bound to be more to come. Compote Fia had definitely met before for a fruit fly infestation she had helped with a few years ago. Though the job itself stood out everything else about it was hazy.

“Now that introductions are done let’s continue on to the Whole cake chateau perorin.”

Not waiting for a response the siblings turned and headed towards the town. The whispers just got worse and more vocal from there on. Fia merely tuned it all out as she looked at her foreign surroundings of various objects with faces and sweets being everywhere. Fiadh had done her research beforehand and knew this was Big Mom’s devil fruit ability, though seeing it in person was much more unnerving. 

Though she did love sweets, especially dark chocolate, she couldn’t stomach the intoxicating smell of the island currently. She had a very sensitive nose and this sweet filled land was not being friendly to it at all.

Out of the corner of her eye Fia could see a woman, slightly taller than her, with lavender hair taking obvious glances towards her. It didn’t seem malicious and more pointed at her neck. Ah… She’s looking at my scar thought Fia as she noticed the woman had her own across her eye. Pulling her from her thoughts was Oven who was making not so passie glances, even going so far as to openly leer at the woman’s ass.

“So Fiadh, I’ve heard plenty of rumors about your work and even what you’ve done for us. However, is it all true?” Oven inquired as they walked at a leisurely pace to the increasingly closer town. He must have noticed Fia caught onto his staring.

“In what regards?” 

“That you’re so skilled that you can fix an entire nation plagued with starvation and disease after a civil war? Or that you have a secret bounty that the World Government keeps under wraps for you working with them?” Oven seemed quite pleased with his knowledge as he continually slyly smirks at you.

“Ah, well somewhat. It all depends, I have done the former before. As for the later… My bounty is not a secret at all. I am simply on special terms with the Government and Marines due to my specializations.” Fiadh is quite disinterested with this conversation that was purely an attempt to rile her up or get some reaction from her. This is going to be a long day Fia thinks to herself.

“Ohhh perorin~. Why does a woman such as yourself have a bounty for?” 

“Hm… reasons.” was the only response she gives as she pulls a book out of her bag as an excuse to have them leave her alone. 

The cackling of one of their siblings is far too distracting to actually focus though. It was ear piercing and got under Fia’s skin. It sounded like someone screaming “WIWIWI” on repeat. Though this entire situation was irritating to her.

They entered the town with no further interaction, but then the town’s people began welcoming the pirates back as they stared at them in both fear and admiration. 

Rolling her eyes Fia chuckles under her breath garnering the attention of one of the other Charlotte siblings. 

“Ehhh, what’s so funny? Fucking outsider… I’ll kill you if you do anything funny!” says the one Fiadh believes is Cracker. 

Opting to ignore the annoying man, Fia gives him one scornful glance before striding back up to Perospero saying, “Are all of your siblings so rude to guests asked here by Big Mom?”

Surprised by her sudden question he glances over at Cracker before responding, “I apologize for my brother, he is a little temperamental perorin.” Though there was no apology in his tone as his eternal smile stays in place.

“Good to know. So will you be upset if I kill one if they pick a fight?” Fia offhandedly remarks.

She hears five siblings trip, three fall, and all curse aloud after my remark. 

“I wouldn’t advise it, but feel free to try perorin~”

The weirdo's interest had clearly been peaked which made Fia momentarily regret her decision to comment. Though it did stop Cracker from trying to say anything else to me, instead he just glared, and the other siblings seemed spooked by my words. Oven seemed to be appraising my strength with not so discreet side glances. 

As we finally reached the large doors that had a smiling face to a… Cake castle? Perospero called for the door to open it, which it happily complied, and led her in. The other siblings dispersed save for Oven and Perospero once they had all entered the castle. 

“We’ll be taking you straight to Big Mom.” said Oven, sounding almost giddy at the prospect.

Nodding she follows until we reach the doors to what she assumes is a throne room. The tiny soldiers seen throughout the castle open the doors for the group to enter. Though Fia was not surprised she was still slightly miffed at not even getting to set down her travel bag and take off her cloak. Taking a deep breath she follows the men in and immediately sees Big Mom sitting atop a throne surrounded by sweets.

“Mama mama! She’s finally arrived. How wonderful, we can finally have a tea party!”    
Bowing her head slightly Fiadh responds, “I would be honored Big Mom.”

After lifting her head she notices a man sitting near Big Mom on the railing with crimson tipped hair, piercing crimson eyes, and a face covered by a scarf. He was not being picked up with her kenbunshoku haki at all which startled Fia immediately. Fia realized she had held eye contact for too long, and adrenaline rushed through her as she quickly returned her sight to Big Mom. The large woman did not look pleased as she gazed at Fia. The blood pounding in her ears made it hard to focus yet Fiadh’s poker face did not waver. She knew very well that she was playing with the devil here.

“Well then… I want to have a tea party tomorrow and then the next day we can discuss our business and why I called you here.” Big Mom stared at Fiadh critically and had little emotion left in her cold voice.

“Very well Big Mom. I would like to get to work as soon as possible.” Fiadh remained respectful to the Yonko, but clear in her distaste to put off her work. She had a sinking sensation that this would take her longer than she wanted it to.

“Mama mama! So straight forward. I like you child, you have some guts! So be it, I will have one of my children come to you after the tea party. However, you still have to meet me the day after for specifics.” the large woman's gaze had turned from critiquing to curious at the boldness Fiadh showed.

Bowing again Fiadh waits for any further instruction. However, instead the man in the scarf kicked off from his seat and walked up to Fia gruffly nodding at her to follow him without a word. Glancing at Big Mom for some form of permission, Fia gets a wave from the giant Yonko, so she turns and follows the man. He was yet again another giant as the other children of Charlotte. She sees Perospero and Oven bowing to Big Mom and turning to leave with them.

Once out of the hall tension seemed to release from the two men that had followed Fia in, though the scarfed man had yet to say anything at all.

“Wow, you’re quite brave Fiadh perorin~” the man almost sounded annoyed.

“Hahahah! That was quite interesting. I wasn’t expecting you to make a demand, let alone not back down in front of Big Mom!” Oven’s statement seemed condescending to Fia. What was the man expecting, for her to grovel in fear while begging for mercy for no reason? Fia was a professional, here for a job and here to do it right.

Fiadh simply snorted at the two men before making sure she didn’t get left behind by the man leading them down the hall. Now that the adrenaline was rapidly leaving her system an acute burning on her shoulder was making itself known. The irritation would not go away no matter how she rolled her shoulder. She refused to show any weakness in front of her current company so she simply ignored it and continued on. 

“Don’t leave this room and if you need anything use the bell.” a deep rumbling voice came from the man in front of Fia as he came to an abrupt stop in front of a tall door with a sleepy looking face on it.

“Ah, ok. Thank you.” Fia responded with no emotion and quickly went to open the door, but was stopped by an arm blocking her path. 

“Don’t try anything stupid.” the cold voice cut like a knife. The man then turned and disappeared down the hallway.

“I’ve never seen him that talkative or irritated with a guest perorin. That was Katakuri by the way, the favorite son perorin~.” Perospero said this with a smug yet distinctly jealous tone as him and Oven continued down the hall leaving Fiadh shocked in her doorway.

The door then spoke to her, “Would you like to enter this room?”

Fiadh stared at it with an increasingly flushed face as she grabbed the handle and threw the door open. “Shut the FUCK UP!”

Her outburst could probably be clearly heard by the brothers down the hallway but she couldn’t care less. Stepping in quickly the woman discarded her cloak and tossed her bag on the bed. 

“What the FUCK WAS THAT?!” She screamed into her empty room with labored breathing as she pulled at her hair in frustration. Her magic door seemed to know better than to try and speak to her again.

It had taken all of the woman’s self control not to verbally and physically lash out at the annoying man who had picked a fight for no reason with her. He had already annoyed her in his general existence then went and did that. Fiadh’s flaming red hair wasn’t just for show she had the matching temper too, though significantly better than when she was in her 20’s. 

Instead of dwelling on it wasting anymore time Fia inspected her room that was surprisingly perfect for her size. She spotted the attached bathroom and headed for it while unbuttoning her top. The burning had begun to fade to a dull itching sensation but she still wanted to inspect what was going on. 

In the mirror Fiadh could see that the shape of her mark remained unchanged, but it was a redish-black now and looked irritated as though visually scolding her. Sighing, she grabbed a hand towel, soaked it in ice cold water, and placed it over the mark for some type of relief. This thing was becoming an increasingly large nuisance that she wanted to disappear taking away it’s annoyances. 

Though it made her think back on what could have set it off and all she could think about was the swarms of Charlotte Linlin’s offspring she had met throughout the day. Fia had to leave the bathroom and head towards the balcony she saw as the thought made her stomach turn in disgust. 

Opening the door to the balcony the cool, sweet air was welcome to distract her from her sickening thoughts. Surprisingly the sickly sweet scent was not as strong on her balcony as when she was walking through the town. Instead the crisp smell of the sea took over her senses. Fia looked around quickly spotting a large outdoor chair with plush pillows to sit on. Closing her eyes she focuses on deep meditative breaths as she tries to clear her mind and heart before she did “something stupid” as she was warned against doing.

Fiadh is drawn from her meditation when a cooling breeze hits her torso as she realizes she had never re-buttoned her shirt. Standing Fia strides back into the room with one thought in mind, pajamas and snacks. Those always made life better.

After ridding her nose of the overwhelming sweet smell she was left craving savory food and some kind of dark chocolate. Looking for the magical bell she had been informed of she began searching around the bed and door. Fia located it by a book on a stand with a comfortable chair next to it. Both looked to be made of gingerbread held together with frosting. Opting not to sit on the odd chair Fia picks up the bell and rings it.

Within seconds little feet could be heard rushing towards the room. Nothing alarmed Fia’s observational haki of a threat so she relaxed to see what would come through her door. 

*Knock Knock* “Mademoiselle you rang?”

Calling them in she was greeted by two astoundingly short men in blue chef outfits.

“Yea, I’d like to get some food for dinner and a desert if possible”

“Ohohoho! Deserts are a must here Madam!” 

Fia rolled her eyes but asked for the savory food she was craving and the dark chocolate. Their eyes lit up at the desert request, though they showed little interest in the actual food she had requested.

“Adieu madam, we will be back with your food in just a few minutes!”

Without waiting for a response they rushed back out the halls and away. Sighing Fia decides to pull out more of her food logs to look over.

When the food arrived Fia was shocked. There was far too much for her alone to eat and it smelt heavenly, her stomach growled loudly rebelling at being neglected for so long. 

“Thanks for the food. Looks great.”

The chefs bowed and left just as quickly as before, not waiting for any further feedback. Fiadh appreciated them not sitting around, she’d never had the best table manners there was simply no need. She was a food protector not a food connoisseur. Before letting herself go to town on some delicious looking food Fia decided to change into her pajamas. The tanktop and shorts showed off her long muscular legs and arms. 

Settling in bed with a heaping pile of the food Fia quickly set to devouring it all. She hadn’t really had a proper meal while travelling here as to keep a low profile. In no time at all the food was gone and so was the desert. Sleep soon followed as she chose to ignore the prospect of a tea party the next day. 

**_____________**

The following day she woke up with the sun just as always and rolled off her bed. Though the woman didn’t want to admit it her age was slowly catching up to her as she groaned with the creaking of her joints. Shaking them out with loud pops she released a loud sigh, tea would be necessary for her to fully wake up but that would wait. Going to the bathroom to clean up and refresh herself was at the top of her list of things to do. She had meant to shower last night but had passed out beforehand. 

Taking her soaps, and bathroom necessities out of her travel bag with her she took no time at all and was soon walking out in a towel with another around her hair. She quickly realized that the man that continually evaded her kenbunshoku haki was sitting leisurely in the gingerbread chair. He hadn’t bothered to look up at her yet, so Fia stayed rooted to her spot growing increasingly furious again, her hands quickly found a place on her hips in a defiant stance. 

“I’m glad you were able to stay put as instructed.”

No response came as the woman standing in the bathroom doorway was not having this bull shit snarky small talk. Finally looking up Katakuri’s eyes went wide and the tips of his ears were visibly turning pink. No one said anything for a long minute. Fia caught his eyes wandering down her scar and then to her visible legs before returning to her unamused face. She let him get his eyeful with no shame, she was proud of her body.

“Get the fuck out. Right. Now.”

With no words the man stood up and left. Releasing a loud sigh to expel her anger the woman found herself chuckling at the asinine situation she had just been in. Then it turned into a bout of giggles as she thought about the gobsmacked look on the serious man’s face. Fia wasn’t an easily embarrassed woman. She had lived on a ship full of men for too much of her life to truly care anymore. A slight itch on her shoulder made her pause and scratch over her mark absentmindedly.

Fiadh quickly changed into another set of decent clothing for the tea party she had on the agenda. Though she travelled light she was always prepared. An emerald green halter top made of silk from Wano with brush painted dragons outlined with gold on it tucked into her black jeans and small black heels. She kept the same gold jewelry as before with an added gold cuff that hid small silver needles, doubling as a very cute accessory and hopefully all it would be for the day. It would be rude to come with her katana to the tea party she was sure, but she wasn’t comfortable going completely unarmed. 

Her discomfort with the imposing tea party was proven by the woman going to put on light makeup simply to keep her hands busy. It took the tomboy of a woman twice as long to get some acceptable makeup on her face than it had taken her to shower and change. Fia always felt odd doing her makeup at her age, but it wasn’t as though she was trying to look younger. Her naturally youthful face did that well enough as is. Though far more time had passed than she thought.

She heard a knock on her door and the presence of a woman on the other side. Calling whoever it was in she walked out of the bathroom to see Brulee standing there in a very pretty blue dress, that accented her curves, gaping at her. Confused at the reaction Fia turned her head to the side and looked at the woman questioningly. In her heels the two women are even closer in height.

“W-wow… You look amazing Fiadh-sama…” The awe in Brulee’s voice made Fia flush red in embarrassment.

“Oh, don’t tease an old lady! Hahah, you look far better than I do. Honestly you're making me feel underdressed…” Fia never was one to be comfortable taking compliments from strangers. Though she was very flattered by the other woman.

Now it was Brulee’s turn to turn red as she stammered out no’s and refusals to the compliment. Fia just chuckled and let it go as she fully understood.

“How could I possibly compare… You’re completely stunning, while I have this across my face.” Brulee points at her scar and looks down at her feet looking very vulnerable.

Walking over Fia pats the woman on the head and gives her a D. worthy grin while saying “Hey, I have one of my own. Do you think it lessens me in the least? If anything we look like a pair of bad asses!” 

Fia’s scar was clearly visible if not accentuated by her outfit as Brulee’s eyes followed the jagged line from her jaw down to her left wrist right above her golden cuff. Though she kinda felt like a parent giving their kid a pep talk it seemed to do the job as Brulee looked up at her with a glint of something in her eyes that wasn’t there before. The woman looked to be about Fia’s age and was rapidly on her way to winning her over. She had not been expecting to like any of the people she met during this job, but she should’ve known better than to judge a book by it’s psycho Yonko parent.

“Thank you… By the way, why did you call yourself an old lady?”

“I’m fairly certain we’re around the same age…”

“WHAT?! No way…” Brulee stared at Fia’s face in disbelief before she seemed to remember something.

“AH! That’s not what Onii-san sent me here for. I’m so sorry. I’m here to give you a tour of the castle then escort you to the tea party!” 

“Sounds good to me! But can we stop by the kitchens? I haven’t had any breakfast yet.” As if on cue her stomach growled audibly to backup her statement. Fia wondered which of her brothers sent her and wondered if it was probably the crimson haired moron she had thrown out earlier.

“Oh, you can order something and we can leave after.” 

“Nah, I’d like to cook myself something and I’ll cook you some too if you’d like! It’s my morning specialty.” Fia grinned at the woman again which seemed to throw her off. She had always been a halfway decent cook and an even better baker since her mother had let her in the kitchen. Then Fia had crewed as a cook/food inspector on a ship for 8 years and perfected her hobby.

“Sounds fun, sure. We can head there first on our tour.” Brulee seemed to be getting more comfortable and relaxed in her speech to their guest which surprised herself.

As the two women beelined for the kitchen only pausing for Brulee to show Fiadh the library closest to her room that she’d have rule over while she worked. The kitchen was a ways away from her room and Fia was certain she would get lost many a time if ever without a guide. When they entered it was about what Fia expected and then some. Large ovens, massive industrial grade stove tops, and all the counter space one could need.

Grinning at the space she had to work Fia walked up to one of the chefs and requested the ingredients she’d need and supplies. She knew better than to tamper with a chef’s organizational system. With ingredients in hand she set to making three types of crepes. One type was a traditional swedish crepe with lingonberry, another filled with a cream cheese filling topped with strawberries and dark chocolate, and the third being creme brulee crepe as Brulee said it was her favorite. She also got a large pot of tea going, it was her favorite masala chai with various spices she had asked for. Brulee told her she wasn’t a fan of tea so she made her a milk based drink with vanilla and cinnamon. 

As Fia turned to begin cooking Brulee exclaimed in shock “You have a mark?! Or is that some weird tattoo…”

“Oh, yea I do. Got it not that long ago and it’s been super irritating recently.” Fia had forgotten it would be visible in this top, though it didn’t really matter.

“Whaatttt?! Does that mean it’s reacting to one of my siblings?” Brulee walked up to Fia to get a better look. “I’ve only ever seen them on my siblings… Lola even left to follow hers. I haven’t had anything appear yet.”

A tone of bitterness entered the woman’s tone. Fia looked over at her before responding “I’m 40 years old and mine just appeared this year. I promise you yours will appear in due time, Branwen always knows.” Brulee dropped the conversation there but still looked curious.

Fia swiftly made all three and had them piled on plates for all three kinds. The drinks were done before the crepes and already served. Her and Brulee had been making small talk about random topics all the while. Brulee also asked about where she learned to cook like this to which Fia barely divulged past it being a hobby. She offered the chefs to try them with them as they had stared at her in curiosity over how she was making a creme brulee crepe, and the rolling technique used for the stuffed crepe. Fia gave a solid plate of them with some berries to Brulee first, expectantly waiting for feedback before eating her own. 

Taking a bite of the crepe with a raspberry Brulee’s face lit up as she exclaimed “Oh my god this tastes perfect! How did you do this?!” Then the woman took a sip of her drink and began gushing over it all over again.

The chefs also quickly ate theirs and exclaimed in shock how it perfectly tasted like creme brulee. Grinning Fia chuckled at them all and began eating her own pile of crepes with a content hum. Her warm cup of chai woke her up and put her in a much better mood.

**_____________**

After a day spent together Fia and Brulee got along swimmingly and the tour had passed by far too quickly. So far Fia’s favorite was the libraries and museums they had of oddities from various tribes of people around the world. Though now it was time for them to head to the tea party at the top of the cake chateau. Which Brulee looked rather excited about since her onii-san was going to be attending which apparently he didn’t normally do. All Fia cared to think about was getting it over with and removing these death contraptions called heels from her feet. She had already almost killed herself on various stairs six times and didn’t need anymore. Mentally berating herself for her choice in shoes she braced herself as Brulee opened the door to the tea party area.

Fia was blinded by the sun as they exited out onto the roof where a massive table was laid out with sweets, tea pots, and cutlery for at least a hundred people. Everything there seemed to be homies too, as well as various trees surrounding the area that were singing to themselves. It was rather annoying to Fia but she tuned it out.

There were already various Charlottes there sitting waiting for the tea party to begin. Little to no chatter was happening which struck Fiadh as being odd for a family. Though she also thought they couldn’t be a very normal family given their size and occupation. Brulee grabbed Fia’s wrist and pulled her over to where she said guests would sit nearest to Big Mom’s voluptuous throne at the head of the table. Then the woman disappeared to her own seat leaving Fia alone. She looked down the table trying to find Brulee only to see a picture frame of an elderly looking woman which made her wonder who it was and why it was sitting right across from where Big Mom would soon be sitting.

Fia only had to wait a few minutes before it got lively as the seats around her filled with the eldest siblings and the last of the younger ones. The table was thoroughly filled and some of the one’s sitting around her tried to start small talk only to fail horribly as their bloodlust and nasty attitudes showed through killing it. There was one seat right across from her still empty and Fia’s heart sunk into her feet as she realized who it probably was.

As if summoned by Fia’s sudden realization the dreaded person walked in at that moment with Big Mom and sat across from her as the Yonko seated herself at the head of the table. Her two most trusted homies were visible at her side as Fia’s eyes got blinded by the small sun floating by her.

“Mama mama! How wonderful. I do love a tea party, and it’s made perfect by our long-term ally finally joining us.” The slight stab at all the times Fiadh had avoided these did not go unnoticed and made the women's adrenaline pick up as before.

“Now then my children let’s get this tea party started off right!” All the homies started to cheer and sing for her to choose them as the woman just cackled away. 

Fiadh simply poured herself some tea and watched as Big Mom devoured dessert after dessert. She glanced over a couple times yet never saw Katakuri eat anything. Though she had noticed he was refusing to look at her besides for quick glances. It seemed that this morning was affecting him far more than her. 

A sharp pang on her shoulder made her sharply inhale and promptly choke on her tea as she turned away from the table to hack it out of her airway. Oven was cackling at her distress as Compote who was sitting next to her patted her back. Fia sat back towards the table flushed and very irritated with thoughts of how to scrape the damn mark off her back running on repeat in her head. 

Fiadh also noticed a wide eyed Katakuri finally making eye contact with her across the table. His face quickly went back to uncaring though and Fia merely raised an eyebrow at him before thanking Compote for her assistance. Little did she know of the internal conflict occurring in the man across from her.

“Mama mama! Fiadh why don’t you try the desserts, they’re exquisite as always.”

“Ah, thank you I will.” Reaching out Fia chose something that looked chocolatey and found it was a donut hole covered in chocolate. Popping it in her mouth she sat back content.

Though the Yonko did not look content with her disinterest in the food. Regardless she continued to ask her children questions and sing with the homies seemingly happy. Though after a few more minutes she returned her attention to Fia.

“So… You used to be a pirate. Why did you suddenly decide to become a food inspector for the entirety of the world?” Big mom questioned with a similar smug smirk as her son Oven had previously.

“Various reasons… Primarily for the money and partially for the easier lifestyle.” This response was a neutral one and completely false though Fiadh didn’t betray this at all.

“Mama mama! What a calculating little girl you are! I wonder what it would take for you to be just mine…” 

Though it seemed like a rhetorical question it still concerned Fia at the possessive side of the Yonko showing. She wasn’t sure what she had done to spark this interest but she had no wish for it to deepen.

Chuckling awkwardly Fia responds “Regrettably I have far too many clients that rely on me for me to do that. Though I would be happy continuing to do work for you as need be.”

Charlotte Linlin didn’t look appeased by this response though the glimmer of malicious scheming shined in her eye concerning Fia immensely.

“By the way Fiadh, I heard you threatened to harm my children if they started anything with you…”

Fia’s blood went cold and her face paled as the Yonko said this while betraying no emotion. Of course that foolish comment would make it to her. The Yonko seemed to enjoy her reaction to this immensely.

“Mama mama! You have my approval to do so should they mess with you. You’re a guest after all!”

Releasing a sigh of relief Fia simply nods her head as she feels crimson eyes glare at her. However, she refuses to acknowledge them and instead begins talking to Compote about the fruit fly incident from a few years ago.

Luckily nothing else major happened and the tea party passed fairly fast as all the food and tea was devoured so Fia was released. Katakuri was the first one to bolt out as Big Mom went to leave, then all the other siblings followed except for Perospero who called for Fiadh to follow him.  Perospero took her to an office-like room to pass on various paperwork and books. He had absolutely no clue what the details of her job was, only what to hand her. Fia was not terribly impressed by his lack of knowledge and rather irritated by having to actually wait until tomorrow if the documents weren’t helpful. Regardless she took the stack of documents with her as Perospero escorted her back to her room.

“Well you survived the tea party perorin. Good job, I hope you continue to do so!” With that a sadistic grin the lanky man walked off leaving Fia miffed and to her own devices. 

It was already well into the evening, the tea party had taken most of her afternoon and evening which didn’t surprise her. 

Walking into her room she launched her heels off her food towards her bag. She also clawed at her mark again as it continued to burn. Fia had tried to keep an eye out for any of the Charlotte’s that seemed to be having similar effects as herself, however, she caught nothing exceptional besides herself choking on tea and almost dying. She really felt the need to find some way to scrape it off herself.

After the death contraptions were removed Fia realized she was in desperate need of food. Unlike the weird children of Charlotte she could not survive on sweets alone so she rang her bell as she organized her stack of papers. The chefs came in and took her order as before then quickly returned with her food. After they left Fiadh went to the bathroom to wash her face of whatever makeup was still on it and change into something comfortable to work in. 

She stole a pillow and sat on the floor completely feeling at home with the logs of food. Despite how terrifying Big Mom is it was always shockingly easy to work with her documents as each type of food tended to come from specific islands in her territory. There was very little outsourcing the Yonko had to do now which made clean lines of commerce for Fia to work with. 

However, the problem was the amount. Due to how much food the Yonko required it was difficult ensuring there was enough of everything in circulation. Though her children normally did a good job at this they only brought in Fia to double check it, help them fix any potential deficits they could have, and supplement them with more trade lines from her sources. Working deep into the night Fia only slept a few hours out of necessity. After all she had a Yonko to meet with in the morning.


	3. Genie-uine Puns Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another busy day for Fiadh as she is confronted with an asshole, thrown into the sea, and gets... mom-ed? Every day in Big Mom's domain has enough action for a week as far as Fia is concerned. Meanwhile Katakuri has his school girl moment. You'd think a 40 year old man would have his shit figured out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this! I didn't edit as much as normal because I'm lazy. Please let me know what you think regardless.

Katakuri stalked down the hall away from the tea party to find somewhere quiet for his merienda that was thoroughly overdue. That was what he was blaming his piss poor mood on. Definitely not a certain guest that was irking him for no reason at all besides he didn’t like being around her. She barely set off his kenbunshoku haki the first time they had met which unnerved him. His Mama had told him this guest was to be treated well and for him to keep an eye on her.

His distaste grew during the tea party when he saw a glimmer of the future of the woman sitting across from him choking on her tea. Just as what he saw began to unfold he felt a shooting pain down his spine that had no known reason. The giant of a man had to bite the inside of his cheek with his sharp teeth, and close his eyes to avoid making any visible reaction to the discomfort. He stared at her in shock as the girl inhaled her tea and proceeded to choke trying to hack it up at the same time the mysterious pain hit him. 

Whatever this sensation was, it made unease pool in his stomach as he bolted out of the tea party as soon as possible and towards his room. He felt a burning on his right shoulder blade but he ignored it until he was in his room in this castle. How he wished to be on his island in his own manor at this moment. Then he’d have complete privacy and space to figure this out.

When he opened the door he almost broke it, but he immediately called the chefs to get his merienda to him and went to the bathroom. Stripping off his leather jacket he turned to inspect his shoulder that had a new black mark on it that made him go slack jawed and gape at it like a fish.

Katakuri, the strongest child of Big Mom; a Yonko of the New World, and the esteemed perfect son had gotten his fated mark. The thing he used to yearn for and at this moment dreaded with every fiber of his being. At the ripe age of 47 he had long ago given up on such things. He had figured he’d never get anything of the sort and felt as though he didn’t deserve such a thing.

The black circle that looked like a donut to him had a fuzzy looking feather in the center. It was also outlined in an irritated red that explained his discomfort. An ice cold shower was Katakuri’s solution to this issue. When he was done his merienda was all set up in his room and he decided the best course of action was to ignore the mark completely.

**_____________**

The next day Fiadh ate breakfast and got ready to see Big Mom. She had revised all the papers by the end of her morning and got the general gist of what was expected of her. However, she would wait for clear instructions to actually start formulating her plan of attack. Fia went with a more casual look for today with her blue skinny jeans and normal knee high boots with a black leather jacket that said “Inspector” on the back with a caustic symbol under the text, and grey tank top underneath the jacket. This was by far her favorite jacket and she wore it as often as weather permitted. Fia also wore her gold cuff and her katana holstered by her black sash.

When Oven came to escort her to Big Mom, Fia was becoming increasingly fed up with the man's perverted stares. The line was crossed when he tried to cop a feel to which she stabbed his hand with a needle tipped with sea stone. While he didn’t openly react to this besides glaring at her, he didn’t try again either. 

“I do love a fiesty red head.”

“Fuck off. Try that again and I’ll castrate you like the horn dog you are.”

“Ohhh, that’s a new one! I like it.”

Fia snorted as Oven heartily laughed. The throne room doors opened before them and they walked in to see Big Mom cheerily singing with her homies and eating some kind of cake. Fiadh also saw that Katakuri was also there again seemingly waiting for their arrival.

“Mama, I’ve brought our guest.”

“Mama mama! Thank you son. You may leave.”

As Oven bowed and turned to leave he tried to pat Fia on the head to which she moved away hissing out profanities. Katakuri raised an eyebrow at this interaction as did Big Mom.

“Now… I expect you’ve read over all the paperwork my son gave you last night?”

“Yes Big Mom.”

“Good! So we can get right to business. I would like you and my son Katakuri to work together in fixing these trade routes and ensuring us some… more willing countries to be added. He can do all the dirty work as I’m aware of your rules against direct conflict with any potential clients.”

“It would be my honor. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”

Fiadh continued to listen to the specifics of what Big Mom needed and it was almost all what she expected from the paperwork except a few curve balls. These included things like an astronomical amount of wasabi, very specific, special coffee beans, and various exotic fruits for Compote’s new parfait recipe. All the while she could feel Katakuri glaring at her like it was her fault they were working together on this. Fia much preferred working alone so it definitely wasn’t her idea. She also blamed the uncomfortable itch growing to an uncomfortable level on her back on the man’s vehement glares. 

“Mama, are you sure one of my younger siblings couldn’t do this? You know I’m busy with Kamugi island.”

“Are you questioning me Katakuri?” Big Mom did not sound amused at her son going against her. “You can have Moscato watch over it like usual.”

“Yes Mama, as you wish.” Katakuri kept up his perfect mask of uncaring as he accepted his fate. 

With that they quickly finished up their discussion and Big Mom called for one of her daughters that was nearby to bring Fiadh back to her room and told her she had free reign to go and do as she wished. This included getting any of her children to help her and travelling anywhere in her land. Though Fia only had interest in the library and some solitude currently. The daughter who came to escort her was Pudding. She was a normal sized, young, pretty lady that seemed mild mannered and surprisingly close to her mother.

“Oh, Pudding! Don’t forget to prepare a room for our other guest. Jinbei should be here within the next few days so we need to be prepared.”

“Yes Mama.”

The surprise must have shown on Fia’s face more than she thought because Big Mom asked her “Do you know Jinbei, Inspector-san?”

That little nick-name irked Fia but she responded with a simple nod and, “I’ve known Jinbei for a long time. If it doesn’t bother you Big Mom I’d like to catch up with him while he’s here.”

“Mama mama! How wonderful, feel free.” Big Mom seemed to have that scheming glint in her eyes again. 

At this point Fiadh was certain the conniving Yonko was trying to find some way to tie her down or make her an ally. Which technically she was an ally just not in the sense Big Mom thought about it. The mere thought of the woman’s ways to tie people to her family made Fia shiver in disgust. She was more willing to marry Brulee than any of this woman’s ill tempered sons. Fiadh wasn’t afraid to vocalize this either if push came to shove.

With that the trio exited the grand throne room. It was almost noon and Fiadh felt snackish but figured it could wait until later.

“Katakuri onii-san it’s been a while. You don’t come and see me much anymore…” Pudding turned big puppy dog eyes up at her brother. Fia could only think that this girl was really good at playing her cards.

“I’m busy Pudding. You know this. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a merienda to get to.” Katakuri stormed off, disappearing quickly leaving a huffy Pudding with a confused Fia.

“Ugh, he’s always like that… Hi, I’m Pudding by the way! You’re Fiadh right?”

“Yea, you can just call me Fia.” Fia started going the way she believed her room was, she normally had a very good sense of direction but this castle was just off.

“Hm… Ok! I like it. What do you plan to do for the rest of today?” The bubbly younger girl made Fia chuckle with her cheery tone. 

“Well I need to get a plan worked out before the end of this week. That’s when we’re supposed to head out to start doing on site work. So I have a lot of work to get done before then.”

“That’s no fun at all... Well if you ever need a break just come find me, I know all the good cafes in the area.”

Patting the younger and much shorter girl on the head Fia responds “Will do, thanks Pudding-chan.”

Fiadh told Pudding she could make it to her room and her kenbunshoku haki didn’t miss the girl's instant change to hostility. Well she was a Charlotte after all. Though it did pain Fia that such a young girl was already so corrupt it didn’t surprise her in the least. She also knew she’d have to keep an eye on the young girl as the ones who can perfectly hide that amount of blood lust were by far the most dangerous.

Opening her door that had long since given up trying to talk to her she released a sigh and got right to work. She had to migrate to the library after a while for some specific sourcing but her work went along smoothly from there. Deciding to skip lunch hadn’t been her best idea though she was surprised by Brulee bringing her some cookies with milk that held her over. She made a mental note to pay the woman back for the treat. 

Come dinner though she was famished and unwilling to wait for even the expedient chefs. Leaving the papers laid out, but putting all the books back on their shelf, she went to the kitchen to make herself some food. When she got there it was empty so she figured the chefs were all at another kitchen for the dinner time rush. Fia decided to make onigiri with salmon, pickled vegetables, and some from the leftover fried rice she found in the fridge. Then when deciding on a desert she saw that the chefs had left all the perfect ingredients to make donuts out on the counter.

Fiadh’s onigiri took no time at all to make, but the donuts were going to take a while. Most of that time was waiting for her dough to rise and be moldable. Her oil had just gotten to the right temp as she finished shaping her donuts so she began plunking them in and watching them rise. Letting them fry until golden brown on both sides she fished them out. By the end she had 16 perfect glazed donuts, she even did a dark chocolate drizzle on half of them. Contently stuffed from the onigiri that reminded her of comfortable days in a small house, and decompressed from cooking she was ready to get back to work.

Taking a plate of three donuts with chocolate and some of the extra onigiri for a midnight snack she left the rest of her donuts covered in the kitchen with a paper label on it with her name. Fia thought that the donuts might be a good offering to Brulee to thank her for earlier. However, she knew that everyone in this castle was a big sweets eater so she wouldn’t be surprised if they were eaten by morning.

The only thing that forced Fiadh to actually sleep was her interest in exploring the towns and their people the next day. She called Darra through a private Den Den Mushi line saying she would need a lift to the other islands. Her friend wasn’t too inthralled by the prospect of coming back to Big Mom’s territory so soon but he agreed anyway.

**_____________**

That night a hungry Charlotte had gone to the kitchen for a midnight snack after not being able to sleep to be delighted with delicious donuts on the counter. They hadn’t paused to see the note on their container in their hungry haze until they had already eaten more than half of them. Instantly they regretted ever going to the kitchen and quickly returned to their room in shame. Though that night they learned their guest food inspector was a shockingly good baker.

**_____________**

The next day she was informed by a little soldier after finishing breakfast that Jinbei had arrived much sooner than expected though Fia figured he’d be busy with Big Mom for the day. Keeping to her plan she changed into some casual clothes to go out in and since it was sunny she brought out her floppy sun hat and sunglasses. She wore her same jacket as the day before to protect her skin and a black tube top that showed off her rib tattoo. It was the same tree engraved on her locket she always had on her with initials hidden in the leaves. She also had an underboob tattoo of a bundle of lavender, which was dedicated to her mother, though that was covered. Jean shorts and sandals showed off her long legs littered with small scars. Her black sash kept her katana tied to her side as she packed away some beli into her jacket and prepared to leave.

Heading out of the castle into town she passed by numerous individuals that stood out that she assumed were various Charlotte children. Her nose was instantly assaulted by the sickly sweet smell but Fia choked down her disgust to focus on what was around her. The goal was to gain as much information on the people of Totto Land and their lifestyle so she could more effectively do her job. Fia was also quite curious to see the various islands that were specialized to certain foods; they had always intrigued her about Big Mom’s territory.

Down one street she saw Perospero handing out lollipops to children and another she saw Pudding riding her magic carpet homie around buildings as if looking for something. Just as she was about to enter a grocery store Fiadh’s kenbunshoku haki picked up malice pointed towards her. Deciding not to jeopardize the town square and shops she leisurely began walking towards where she figured the town ended. In a small field right outside a dense forest Fiadh came to a halt.

“Hey, brat. Tone down your blood lust, you're gonna disturb the peace.” Fiadh didn’t turn around simply relying on her haki to tell her the spot of the man who had been following her.

“Hahah! Guess there’s no point hiding now.” A man with short blonde hair who was easily over a meter taller than Fiadh stepped out from behind a group of homies that were hiding him. He was disproportionately broad in the torso with thin legs and arms.

“What do you want?”

“I just wanted to see what my brothers were making such a fuss about was all.” He had the same perverted, leering look as Oven did and it wouldn’t surprise Fia if they were more closely related.

“Well you’ve seen, now leave me be. I have work to do.” Fia turned to walk back towards the town thoroughly pissed at the interruption. 

“Hold up! Why don’t we chat for a bit. I’m Charlotte Daifuku by the way, the fourth child of Big Mom.” His sneer sent a disgusted shiver down Fia’s back and she couldn’t fully hide her distaste from her face. It didn’t surprise her how closely related he was to Oven, but she knew she had heard this man’s name before.

“Unless you want to walk around with me as I inspect all the food in Totto land I suggest you leave me be while I’m asking nicely Daifuku.” The bloodlust began pouring out again as he got an excited glint at what Fia had said.

“Was that a threat?” Daifuku’s hands reached towards the strange belt he was wearing with that maniacal glint in his eyes.

“Want to test it?” Fia leaned forward as she put her hand on the hilt of her katana. Her senses immediately sharpened as adrenaline rushed through her veins. 

“Hm… I think I have to now!” With that the man began to rubbing his belt and a genie formed rapidly beside him.

“Wow… Devil fruit powers. So impressive. Lazy fuckers.” Fia responded with a deadpan look at the ginormous genie floating above them. She made it abundantly clear how unimpressed he was at not using his own strength against her.

Regardless, Fiadh took a half assed defensive stance, still just keeping her hand on the hilt of her katana. Her kenbunshoku haki warned her of an incoming strike from the genie from the slightest twitch of Daifuku’s finger on his belt. She began the deadly dance with the halberd-wielding genie as she avoided every lunge and attack without so much as breaking a sweat. Although she was having a hard time holding back her laughter as the genie made genie-uine puns with every attack. The genie managed to get a few decent hits on her arm and torso, and one little cut to her leg when she was distracted trying to hold in her laughter. Fia still refused to draw her katana; she let this go on for 10 minutes before she could see Daifuku’s frustration show in increasingly sloppy attacks.

With this Fiadh lunged at the man with blinding speed only to be intercepted by the genie and pushed back again. She knew this wouldn’t be that easy and the cocky smirk on the other man’s face was really starting to piss her off.

Removing her leather jacket and tossing it to the side with her hat and sunglasses so they wouldn’t get destroyed she finally removed her katana letting it sing against its scabbard. 

“This is more like it!” The sleazy look that came with that statement made Fiadh think about how overly confident the man was being.

“Stuff it fucker.” Her foul mouth seemed to surprise him. Fia never kept formalities up with people who irked her, regardless of who they were.

Fiadh hadn’t had any real action in far too long and begrudgingly had to admit she was enjoying the change of pace. However, she highly disliked her opponents' cockiness. Taking a proper attacking stance and lunged at the genie. Coating her sword with busoshoku haki she dove under the halberd soaring at her and cut the genie in half. At that same moment she had thrown one of her needles tipped in sea stone at Daifuku, sinking it into his exposed neck.

Daifuku’s face contorted in frustration as the genie refused to immediately reform. Fiadh stalked towards the man pointing her katana at his throat just as he reformed his genie that pointed his halberd at her back. Damn his neck was too thick for the needle to sink in. At an impasse Fia sheathed her katana and smirked at the man. 

“We’ll call it a draw for now.”

“Damn… Didn’t expect the nerdy food inspector to actually be able to fight not gonna lie.”

“Ah, so you just came here to bully a woman you thought was defenseless? Guess I should take your head as I thought.”

“No, no!” Daifuku put his hands in the air in a mock surrender, “I was just testing you to see if you had any bite to your bark I’d heard about from my brother.”

“Well I hope you’re all appeased. Now if you don’t mind. I actually need to do my job. Inform your siblings if they disturb my work again I won’t apologize to Big Mom for what I do to them.” With that Fiadh turned to collect her discarded articles and head back into town. Daifuku skulked around for a moment before disappearing with a clearly wounded ego in tow. Little did she know one of the Charlottes had watched the entire exchange and was rather intrigued by it.

Glad to have gotten some sword play in even if it was with an egotistical man child Fiadh got back to work with a pep to her step. While the woman did enjoy fighting she didn’t enjoy needless killing or harming of people. Hopefully this will get it through to the Charlotte kids not to mess with her and her work, however, Fia had a sinking sensation it would just spur some.

Luckily her work went smoothly from there on and the only interruptions were Brulee coming and quickly checking on her before disappearing mysteriously fast. Then Pudding dragging her to her cafe “Caramel” on Cacao island while she was visiting. The girl had been amazed by Darra and even more amazed that Fia could communicate with him. So long as the younger girl kept up her act Fia would continue to treat her as before, perhaps with just a bit more caution. Once she had at least flown over every island Fia went back to Cake Chateau around dinner time. Her nose felt dulled after all the intense smelling islands the woman had been on in one day. As Darra was landing by the docks she saw the water rippling, her haki informed her of the Fishmen’s presence before they surfaced.

“FIADH-SAMA!” The yell came from multiple fishmen launching out of the water towards the woman. They quickly surrounded her and just as quickly Darragh took to the sky to avoid the crowd.

“It’s been so long!” 

“You look amazing as always!” 

“Did you get taller?”

Everyone talking over each other and at the same time was overwhelming Fia but she just grinned widely at them all and laughed enjoying it all. Behind them Fia saw Aladdin pulling himself up onto the dock so she walked over to him to say hi to her old friend and quickly saw someone else following close behind him. A large hammerhead shark woman followed him. She was curvy and quite young with pretty features and deadly sharp teeth. 

“Hey Aladdin! Who’s this?”

“Fia-sama, it’s been too long. This is my *cough* wife, Praline.” Aladdin’s bright red ears showed his embarrassment in stating this, and Fia got a devilish smirk.

“Ohhh, is that so? She’s far too gorgeous for you old sea slug! Hahah!” Fia patted her friend at the back and saw the glare from the other woman at her comment. “I’m happy for you Aladdin. It seems you two make a good couple.”

At this the female smiled widely at Fia, “Nice to meet you Fiadh-sama, I’ve heard of you from Aladdin. I hope we can be good friends from now on. I’d love to hear all about Aladdin as a soldier at Ryugu!”

“Of course Praline-kun! I’ve got all the embarrassing stories. He’s always had a thing for shark women it seems.” Giggling she patted her old friend on the back again as his whole face turned bright red and he shoved Fiadh towards the water off the dock. 

Fia was never the most graceful woman, so she fell face first into the water only to be fished out by Praline and set sopping wet back on the dock. Shaking herself like a wet dog she flicked Aladdin and the other fishmen off for laughing at her sorry state. Luckily her hat and sunglasses weren’t on her head and were sitting on the dock or else she would have to make the man pay her for some new sunglasses. The sky was getting dark faster than Fia would like so she cut their conversation off to get back in time for some food.

“Hey Aladdin, do me a favor and let Jinbei know that I’m here and would appreciate it if his busy ass would make time to catch up. I’ll be sure to come by and talk again guys. Praline we have lootttsss to talk about, just us.” Aladdin’s face fell at the last bit, but he nods his head anyway.

“Of course Fia-sama, Boss Jinbei already knows you’re here but we’ll let him know to come find you. Where do you think you’ll be the next couple days?”

“Around the libraries in Cake chateau or in my room.”

“Alright. Have a good evening Fia-sama, it was great seeing you again. Please don’t give my wife too much blackmail. I’m not as young as I used to be, I wouldn’t be able to take it…” By the end the giant eel fishman was basically begging the woman by the end.

“Hahah! I promise not to share anything I’ve been sworn under secrecy to.” This made the man release a sigh of relief.

They all waved Fia off with a smile, and that was the only time the woman had felt so at ease and at home since arriving on this accursed cake island. Heading back to the castle sopping wet and cold however was not ideal. Though she was happy the streets were relatively empty. Fia still cursed Aladdin in her head the whole way to the castle doors and when she got there a short woman with pink hair was staring at her in curiosity. Fia believed she met her the first day but her name escaped her completely.

“Oh my, you’re simply drenched sweetheart!” The pinkette sounded genuinely concerned for Fia which surprised her and made her feel guilty for forgetting her name.

“Yea, I got pushed into the sea for a little swim.” Came her dry response

“Hold up, let me get you a towel or you’ll catch a cold.” 

The motherly vibes this woman was giving off was intriguing to Fia since she was most definitely older and not used to this role being reversed on her. The smaller woman was off into the castle before Fia could stop her so she stood just inside the castle awkwardly waiting. Though she didn’t have to wait long as the woman was running back with an armful of towels quickly.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to go this far. I rarely if ever get sick anyway.”

“Nonsense! You’re a guest and you should always take care of your health first.” The wide pure smile the woman gave Fia warmed her more than the towels ever would.

Patting the pinkette on the head Fia responds, “What’s your name? I believe I met you when I arrived, but I can’t seem to remember…”

“I’m Chiffon! It’s nice to meet you again Fiadh-sama”

“You too. Well I should go change and get some dinner. Have a good evening Chiffon-san, thanks again.”

Once back in her room Fiadh took a long hot shower and rang her bell to get some dinner mostly consisting of carbs to make up for all the energy spent. Feeling one of the lumps on her arm she knew it would be tender in the morning. One of the downsides to age is that her recuperation time after fighting seemed to continually go up. Luckily the scratch on her leg wasn’t much more than a papercut so she ignored it and changed into pajamas. 

Her dinner lasted no time at all and for once she actually finished the ridiculous amount of food they regularly gave her. Though she got little work done as her brain just wanted to focus on the past due to the fishmen she had met up with. That night she dreamed of her younger years and first time seeing fishman island. Simpler and happier times indeed.

**_____________**

Katakuri had the fight he had witnessed on replay in his head. His sister Brulee had come crying to him saying Daifuku was picking a fight with their guest. Despite his distaste towards the woman he couldn’t very well neglect their guest and let his family member ruin whatever plan Mama had. Brulee had taken him through the mirror world to watch from a mirror she had a homie holding up towards an active battle between Daifuku’s genie and Fiadh. 

Brulee screeched about how they hadn’t been fighting before and seemed surprisingly distressed at Fiadh’s situation. Katakuri didn’t know when the two had gotten so close but it irked him for some reason. When Fiadh had removed her jacket and sun hat he audibly gulped at the toned woman he saw. No man could deny Fiadh was quite attractive, with all the right curves, and clearly trained muscles. However, when she began to go on the offense was when Katakuri and Brulee were truly surprised.

They had both been stunned into silence at watching how Fiadh handled herself and managed to reach a draw with Daifuku. Katakuri felt that annoying itch on his shoulder and each time it occurred the more he dreaded the reality he was being faced with. From where Brulee and Katakuri were looking from they could see Fiadh’s black mark clear as day as she finally stopped moving. Katakuri let out a shuddering sigh as he took in the design on Fiadh’s shoulder blade that matched his own. Luckily Brulee had been too busy gushing about Fiadh to pay him any mind at the time.

Now Katakuri was busy locking himself up in his room trying to think of some way to calm down and find some solution to this issue. First an ice cold shower was needed to ease the flaming mark on her shoulder as it felt like he was being stabbed for neglecting Branwen’s decision. The man cursed the goddess while he sat under the cold blast of water for far longer than before.

He knew the only way to get the annoyance to stop was to truly accept his fated match and acknowledge her with the love Branwen seems to be expecting. Katakuri’s only thought was finding some solution that wasn’t that.

“What the fuck am I gonna do…”


	4. Whale Sighting Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh is as busy as ever as the encroaching end of the week approaches. The damn Charlotte's seem to have it out to make her job as difficult as possible too...

The next day Fiadh was awoken by malice setting off her kenbunshoku haki though she didn’t immediately get up. Waking up and immediately being pissing her off was a death trap for whoever was at fault. The person slammed a fist onto her door and she groaned in frustration.

“What?!”

Not responding verbally the person slams the door open and in walks Oven, literally steaming, his face contorted in rage. This made Fiadh rapidly gain her cognitive abilities though she didn’t outwardly portray anything besides a cold, lazy appearance. She swung her legs off the side of the bed sitting there in a bedraggled grumpy state. Oven opened his mouth but paused seeming to take in her pajamas that showed more skin than normal, and her disorderly appearance. Fiadh pointedly yawned in his face and raised an eyebrow.

“Mama nor Katakuri will do anything about it, but I won’t stay quiet. You need to watch yourself bitch. Pick a fight and hurt any of my siblings again and I will end you.”

“Am I supposed to be scared? I don’t fucking care what you want brat. I’m here to do MY fucking JOB. So keep your damn siblings out of my shit.” Fiadh’s face was clearly showing her irritation, and her tone cold as ice while rebuttaling the steaming giant's accusations. 

Oven gaped at her, clearly not expecting that sort of response despite having seen glimpses of the fiery woman’s temper before. 

“You’re pushing your luck woman. You’ll end up losing your head if you keep up this shit, and no one will give a shit.”

“HA! Now that’s where you’re wrong. Kill me and you just wait and see what happens to your little family fucker.” Her lack of fear towards death unnerved Oven into silence so she continued. “I won’t apologise for teaching your dumbass sibling a lesson. Maybe next time he should bring his big brother to protect his ass.”

With that Fiadh walked away from Oven who now had glowing orange fists and steam billowing out his nose with every furious breath. Though she kept a cool outward appearance she was inwardly concerned about him actually lashing out and herself being unarmed. Walking into the bathroom with lazy, controlled steps she looks back at him, flicks him off with a dainty scarred middle finger, and slammed the door in his dumbstruck face. 

Her entire room was clearly heating up due to the furious man’s devil fruit ability. Fiadh scrunched her nose as she thought about how all the Charlotte’s seemed to have those moronic abilities. She would never see the appeal in creating a deadly vulnerable point in yourself for some false strength, but to each their own. The swimming point didn’t bother her too much, she was never much of a swimmer anyway, more so the risk that came with that weakness to something so known.

Fiadh didn’t begin her morning routine until she felt the man leave her room and leave the vicinity of her haki all together. She began stripping to take a shower, but paused to look at her mark in the mirror. It wasn’t red anymore so she gently traced the circle with the tips of her finger. When she did so she felt a tingle race down her spine making her quickly stop and jump into the shower. Even thinking of that mark made her stomach knot up and an ache bloom in her heart. It frustrated her even more at the thought of her match being a member of the Charlotte family. Fiadh wasn’t dumb she had connected the dots on when her mark acted up and who it seemed to occur due to. She was just in pure denial not even truly acknowledging the conclusion her subconscious formulated.

While lost in thought she realized she was basically done with her morning necessities so she changed into the clothes for her day of work.

After the lovely morning encounter with Oven she went with clothes that were a direct throwback to when she was pirating through the seas. It both brought her comfort and confidence in dealing with this family that both demanded her work and threatened her life every day. Black loose pants went into her black tall boots, a white tight t-shirt, her dark green sash, and a haori draped over her shoulders with the design of a fox spirit chasing a golden dragon in a circle with a dark green base color. Her Katana was stuck in her sash on the left side of her body, gold cuff in place, and three throwing knives strapped to her right leg. She looked ready to go into battle, strictly against the Charlotte children that is.

Fiadh decided she wanted to go out and get breakfast at a cafe outside of the castle so she could go look at that market she didn’t get to walk through the other day. It was also in pure defiance to prove she wasn’t going to be phased by Oven’s words. She also stopped to inform one of the small chess soldier to let Brulee know she’d like to meet up for dinner that evening. Fia still owed her some food and dessert after all. Afterwards she absentmindedly mulled over which documents to focus on first to best prepare for the fast approaching end of the week. 

**_____________**

Meanwhile, Oven stormed out of the castle needing to release some of his pent up heat elsewhere before he got in trouble with his mother. As soon as he exits the castle he spots Katakuri outside scanning the town absentmindedly fiddling with a wafer between his fingers. Oven storms over to him still visibly steaming to give the man a piece of his mind and vent.

“Shut up. Don’t say any of that unless you want Mama to get pissed off.”

“I didn’t even say anything! Fucking freak.”

Katakuri gives him a ticked off pointed look but doesn’t respond. He already knew his brother was going to say everything anyway, but he had to at least try.

“She’s a fucking psychotic bitch. I don’t know why Mama thinks we need her help, we can do everything she does by ourselves. Within the family!”

“It’s Mama’s choice and we have to respect that.”

“She beat Daifuku Katakuri. Even if he was underestimating her it definitely wasn’t some fluke.” He seemed to be cooling down and instead analyzing their guest. “I don’t trust her being here. She’s a threat so long as she isn’t a proper ally or family.”

Sighing at his moronic brother finally catching up Katakuri blandly responds, “I’ll be keeping an eye on her the entire trip we’re taking to secure those trade routes. No harm can come to the family.”

While Daifuku didn’t really care about their siblings, Oven did have some amount of give-a-shit in him. Though he didn’t mind them getting hurt and learning their lesson, he would never let any harm come to the family if he could help it. Katakuri was a whole other level of protective from them, but none of them knew that. They just idolized him as the strongest and that was enough for him.

Oven huffed at Katakuri’s response and said, “Well that’s for the best. I wish I saw their fight, I’m curious just how strong that food nerd is. By the way what are you doing sitting out here?

Humming Katakuri’s mind plays the fight between Fiadh and Daifuku again. He was surprised he wasn’t more pissed off about the whole thing, but the woman didn’t really injure his brother. Just severely wounded his pride, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for that man.

“Mama has me out here waiting for Jinbei… they have a meeting to discuss the future candy shipments from Fish Man Island from now on.”

Oven snorted at his brother's misfortune, wished him luck, and headed off to actually do his duty as the minister of browned foods.

Minutes later Katakuri’s haki picks up the very topic of their conversation walking out of the castle. It still disturbed him how faintly his kenbunshoku haki picked her up though part of him wondered if it had something to do with their shared mark. He also found himself wondering if she knew already about him being her fated match. His heart fluttered against his will at the thought, though the knots forming in his stomach reminded me that if so they were both avoiding the topic. Which to him was the best option. 

Fiadh was blinded by the sun as the castle door cracks open for her to exit, she quickly realized her mistake in forgetting sunglasses. As she’s blinded to tears she makes out the form of a man sitting near the castle on a rock. Oh great… It’s Katakuri. She couldn’t make out much as she blinked to force her eyes to adjust. 

Fiadh tripped over her own feet as she realized how she knew who it was sitting there. Not so gracefully the woman falls face first into the candy road with a groan. She felt the familiar tingle on her back and it had immediately registered in her brain as being caused by him. That single realization made the woman shudder in pure irritation.

The giant stared wide eyed at the woman who just face planted right in front of him. He was highly confused on how this was supposedly the same person who defeated his brother in a fight. As she got up Katakuri noticed that she lacked her normal mask and looked confused, and highly irritated. The tingle on her shoulder going down his spine was surprisingly pleasant, a similar one was what woke him up that morning. 

“Ugh, fuck me. I need tea.”

Accidentally snorting Katakuri looked away and tried to cover it with a very fake cough.

Just then a large whale shark fishman walked up the hill laughing heartily at the woman’s plight. 

“Fia-sama you never change, huh? After all these years…”

Fiadh who had been dusting herself off launched at the speed of light towards the man who was around the same height as the woman.

“JINBEIIIIIII! AHHH!”

The ear piercing squeal made Katakuri cringe and caused an immediate headache. Whereas Jinbei began laughing even more, hugging the woman back. 

“Hi Fia-sama! It’s been so long since we last crossed paths.”

“Far too fucking long. Stupid whale, you should’ve come to see me sooner! I’ve missed you so much.” Fia launched herself back at the fishman wrapping her arms and legs around him like a kid.

“Hahaha! Fia-sama you’re gonna hurt me hanging like this. You’re not a kid anymore.” Jinbei patted the woman’s head and made no move to try and remove her.

Katakuri felt a gut wrenching feeling as he watched the two interact. He did not like this feeling one bit and disliked even more that the nuisance of his life was the cause of it. The burn of jealousy spiked as he saw just how brightly the woman smiled at the fishman. He had never seen that smile from her during her stay. Though it made sense, she was well aware of her situation here in Totto land.

“What are you doing right now Jinbei-san? You still owe me a sparring match.”

“I have a meeting with Big Mom I must go to, but it shouldn’t take too long. I got your message you left with Aladdin too. Do you want me to come find you once I’m done? Or you can come find me at the coast with the others.”

“Hm… I have to talk to you privately too, so if it isn’t too much of a hassle could you come find me when you’re done? I’ll be in one of the libraries in the castle by then.” Fiadh gave him her famous full grin as he nodded in agreement to their plan. 

“It’s so fucking good to see you again Jinbei! I can’t wait to catch up.” Fiadh’s emotions were clearly being amplified by her dreams the previous night.

“Same for me.” Patting her head again he looks over at Katakuri and nods while still smiling widely.

With that Fiadh headed down into town to complete her initial mission and find some goddamn tea. Katakuri watched her walk down the hill still having his stomach in knots after the interaction he just watched. His head filled with questions on how the two knew each other and just how close they were.

“Katakuri-san, it’s good to see you again. Are you leading me to meet with Big Mom?”

“Yea. Let’s go.” Katakuri has to bite his tongue from asking the questions he really wants to and just leads the fishman into the castle.

**_____________**

Later in the day Fiadh is nose deep in various papers, books, and packets of information with a notebook full of her thoughts and plans. It felt nice to be getting work done and she still had her baggy of salted caramel desserts for Jinbei and some dark chocolate fudge she had been snacking on. As she finished one more trade route detailing and rough planning Fia released a sigh and rubbed her eyes to relieve their strained state. She felt someone watching her then, and she was momentarily freaked by the lack of her haki being set off. The slight tingle on her shoulder was the dead giveaway though. She quickly realizes it’s Katakuri who was sitting on a desk behind her staring intently at her and her work. The slight burn on her shoulder was what had given him away. She had been growing rather numb to it unless she focused on it, which was both good and bad.

“Hey there, can I help you?” She was curious if he was here for work or to pick a fight like his brothers. 

“Mind if I look over some of your work? I want to get an idea of what to expect for our first destination.”

“Ah, not at all. I was going to show you after I reviewed it some more, but it doesn’t really matter.” Shrugging Fiadh got up, sighing as her knees and back popped in relief, then walked over to hand the man her notebook.

Katakuri noticed then how much smaller Fiadh’s hands were compared to his and how calloused and scarred they were despite their dainty shape. Focusing on the notebook he went to the page tabbed with the name of their first destination, which was the Shiratamako Island, taking note in how organized the food inspector was. The details for the trip shocked Katakuri as he saw everything from the amounts of products she was aiming to get, possible complications that may arise, and even snippets of relevant history about the island. The Island was renowned for their sweet flour, and as in the name, their sweet rice flour that makes mochi. 

“Will you be ready to go within the next two days?” 

“Yea, feel free to tab through the rest of our destinations in there. I have almost everything done except the last two.” 

Fiadh found this to be the most pleasant conversation she’d had with the man and enjoyed that he seemed thorough in his work. She found herself staring at the man’s face taking in his eternal scowl and knitted brows in concentration. The tingle that went down her spine made her look away and focus on the trip they’d both be stuck on instead. They had 8 planned stops and another 2 potential depending on what happened with negotiations. 

“By the way, when do you think Jinbei will be done with Big Mom?”

Fiadh missed the momentary dark look on Katakuri’s face before he responded, “Should be soon… You seem to know him well.” The silent probing did not go missed by Fia. 

The woman saw no harm in telling him a bit about it as the fishman was an ally they wouldn’t likely harm. “Yea, I’ve known him since I was quite young and on my first expedition to the New World. That was back when that big lug was still a palace guard.”

Katakuri raised an eyebrow as he found himself wondering the woman’s exact age. He figured she wasn’t much younger than him, but her face was quite deceiving; it was how she talked that gave it away.

“Interesting… Figured you just knew him from work.”

“Well I see him around because of my work which is nice…” 

The woman seemed lost in thought so Katakuri went back to skimming over the incredibly detailed notebook. He now understood why she was an esteemed specialist at this stuff and why Mama paid her for this work. They peacefully coexisted for another half hour before they both seemed to pick up the fishman himself approaching them. Katakuri mentally berated himself for his momentary feeling of annoyance at being disturbed in their first moment of being around each other in relative peace. 

Fiadh perked up as the clicking of sandals grew closer and turned to Katakuri noticing that the man had an uncontrolled shiver only shown in his shoulders at the same time she did. Well, fuck… the woman thought to herself.

“Do you want to look that over more? If you want you can find me later this evening. I’ll be having dinner with Brulee if you need to find me.”

“Ah, yea. I’d like to look it over some more. I’ll come find you then.” Katakuri stood up, and took a mental note of how the woman came up to his chest and would make a perfect armrest, then promptly walked out of the library. The tingling on his shoulder didn’t stop the rest of the day although he was glad it was no longer painfully burning.

Shortly after Katakuri had left Jinbei walked in to find Fiadh staring, completely lost in thought at the door frame. Snorting he walked up to the woman and waved a webbed hand in front of her face. He knew this happened when Fia was overthinking something or something was bothering her.

“Fia-sama, are you okay?”

Fiadh jumped in her chair and stared at Jinbei in confusion, “When did you get here?”

“Just now… Why are you zoning out?” The concern on Jinbei’s face made Fia feel guilty momentarily.

“Ah, just overthinking something. It’s fine though.”

“Hm… Well you know what works best at clearing your mind?”

“Sparring?” The hopeful tone in her voice made the fishman laugh boisterously and pat the woman on the head.

“Yes, exactly! Let’s head outside for some fresh air and to clear our minds.” 

Nodding Fiadh stood up and followed Jinbei out of the castle, not bothering to clean up her mess of paperwork that she’d need to set up again tomorrow anyway. She felt a giddy thrill rush through her body at the prospect of sparring with her old friend. It felt amazing to throw it back to the good days with him. Before shit hit the fan, and they lived on in naive youthfulness. 

“So… How’s Kinara-san doing?” Jinbei’s question threw Fia off for a moment but she noticed they were far from where anyone would hear them anyway, with no prying homies either.

“She’s alright… Surprisingly handling it all well. Her baby is absolutely precious and if I didn’t like my head where it is I would’ve probably already stolen him away.” 

Kinara was one of Fiadh's more recent friends and clients, but nonetheless an important one. She was significantly younger than Fia, who never would have known about the girl’s existence if it wasn’t for that old man’s will. Whitebeard was forever a schemer when it came to his children even after his death.

“Good. Are you going to be able to go see them anytime soon?”

“I don’t know… This looks like it’s going to take a lot more time than I initially anticipated. I also promised Vivi that I’d take a vacation to go spend time with her!” Fiadh smiled softly as she thought about the desert princess’ concern for her.

“Hm… Then I take it you’re leaving it up to Marco?”

“Of course! That flaming pigeon can take care of all of them combined easily.” Fiadh laughed as Jinbei nodded sagely in agreement.

“Well this is as good a spot as any to spar. No weapons as normal Fia-sama!” Jinbei removed his haori and took a basic fishman karate stance as he waited for the woman to remove her weapons.

They were both in a small clearing in a forest of mostly non-homie tries. Fia quickly discarded all her weapons including her cuff and haori then tied her hair back into a high ponytail. When she took her own stance with her hands held low around her waist in anticipation. Fiadh was never the first to strike. While she had no talent for fishman karate she was quite adept in aikido.

Fiadh was tall for a woman, however, most of her weight was in her legs. She had fairly narrow shoulders, and while proportional, her legs showed well built muscles with wide hips and all around looked solid. Her arms were also well defined, but significantly more lean in nature. She had a nice natural curve at her waist that also showed her solid core. The small barely visible scars told the tale of her battles and clutz filled life. The prominent scar running down half her body just elevated the fierce aura the woman gave off. Everything about her showed her hard work to get where she is today.

Jinbei lunged at her first and so their fast pace waltz of fists, kicks, and body throws began. Fia’s hair quickly became a frizzy mess and she was sweating profusely. Jinbei looked calm and composed but even he was sweating in exertion. He always held off from using any water attacks with her, so they mainly grappled and fought with their fists. 

As he struck forward with a palm strike Fia side stepped it and quickly brought her hand to his wrist. Jinbei’s eyes widened and he quickly tried to escape her grip. He failed epicly in that endeavor and quickly felt the world flip as the woman efficiently swept him off his feet, using his weight against him. Though she was nice enough to make sure he didn’t land on his neck. Fia put a knee in his shoulder blade and she kept his hand pinned to her torso which quickly forced him to tap. 

The next round started with Jinbei throwing a punch towards Fiadh though it was a false shot to launch a low kick at the woman’s legs. Fia partially saw through it though couldn’t completely avoid the kick. As she blocked it, she was pushed back 10 meters from the force. She quickly blocked an ensuing volley of punches and tried to find some opening to take the larger fishman down. He clearly weighed more than her but that was where she could thrive and find ways to redirect the weight and momentum to win. Fia quickly launched at the man’s right shoulder trying to disrupt the punches by getting in his personal space.

Jinbei launched a solid kick at Fiadh’s stomach that she barely blocked with an arm and got sent flying back once again. The fishman agilely followed up and put her arm in an armlock to keep her down. Though it required him tightening down for the stubborn woman to finally tap. They both separated panting in exertion and grinning fiendishly at one another.

After one last round that ended in another win for Jinbei, the two ended their sparring as far more time than anticipated had passed. Though that was just typical. As they sat under some non-homie trees the two began chatting about the old days on fishman island and then Jinbei caught her up on how it was now. Her gut clenched at the miss treatment caused by the candy factory being there and how much stress it put King Neptune under.

“Hey Jinbei…”

“Yes Fia-sama?” Her sudden serious tone momentarily concerned him but he didn’t show it.

“I think I found my fated match.”

“WHAT?! Are you serious??” The fishman grinned down at the woman then his brows furrowed at her morose expression. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s a Charlotte offspring. And a not so great one at that…” The woman scrunched her nose up in discontent.

Running his webbed hand up and down her back in comforting circles he responds, “Fia-sama I’m sure there was a reason behind this. We all know Branwen doesn’t make mistakes in the end, but I understand your inner turmoil. Are you going to ignore it for now, or try and make it work?”

Taking in a slow deep breath before responding Fia’s grey eyes were clouded with confusion. “I don’t know Jinbei… What am I supposed to do?”

The woman’s hopelessly lost tone made Jinbei’s heart break slightly seeing his friend this way. He sighed saying, “You need to do whatever your heart says is right Fia-sama. There’s definitely a reason you were paired with this person, so please try not to deny them without first giving them some type of chance. You’d be surprised, not all the Charlotte’s are monsters! Some just want to be loved and have someone, as with Praline and Aladdin.”

She smiled slightly as she thought about Praline and Brulee before responding, “Yea, you’re right Jinbei… This is why I wanted to talk to you about this first. Any luck with your match?”

“Hahah! I’m a pirate Fia-sama, it’s never going to work out.”

Eyeing the man’s black mark of a triangle and a shark tooth on the inside of his arm she laughed saying, “Now, now Jinbei-san! You can’t be too quick to judge. You never know.”

She knew the fishman had met his fated match back when he was a shichibukai and had promptly run away after they had barely gotten to know each other. Jinbei looked very displeased at Fia’s use of his words against him. She snickered but didn’t push the topic.

“Well I should go back so I can clean up in time for dinner. Can I come find you tomorrow morning by the coast? I’d like to come hangout with everyone for a bit.”

“Alright. That sounds great! I’ll let everyone know. Have a good evening Fia-sama.”

Waving goodbye to each other Fia and Jinbei split with a quick hug and went about their evenings. When Fiadh gets back to the castle everything is blissfully peaceful, and that unnerves her immediately. It was never this quiet, she could always at least hear the distant squealing of children of loud voices of people throughout the castle. 

Disregarding it she quickly went to her room to clean herself up and get ready for her dinner plans. She needed to get a headstart since she wanted to cook as much as possible on the off chance Katakuri also decided to eat with them. Though she figured that wouldn’t be the case from previous experience with the man’s scarf covered face.

She changed into a massive hoodie that went down to her knees, and while she wore shorts under it they weren’t very necessary as they were completely covered. The hoodie was a keepsake from a friend and was one of her favorites for comfy time. Fia had told Brulee to wear comfortable pajama-like clothes for this informal dinner. Her damp hair made her feel chilled so she put on some fluffy grey slippers and headed towards the kitchen to start on dinner.

When she got there she immediately got to work making Bouillabaisse on angel hair pasta. Informing the chefs she’d like an extra pair of hands or two to help get everything done they lit up with excitement and seemed more enthusiastic than last time getting the ingredients she requested. They informed Fia they had told the head chef Streusen about her amazing crepes from a couple days ago and that he wanted to taste them too if possible. She filed that away in her mind of, if convenient remember this, and moved on with her seafood pasta. 

Once it was well on it’s way she started on the creme brulee and then made some donuts again. She had noticed her previous ones had been eaten which honestly made her glad someone enjoyed them. This time she made dark chocolate donuts and another lemon glazed donut. They both were quite easy to bake. 

Everything was done at about the same time and Brulee had arrived just as the creme brulee was done. She grinned at the woman’s nightgown being a pale lavender and her wearing her typical fur coat with black slip on slippers. Brulee looked somewhat uncomfortable in casual attire around the cooks but Fia sent her a blinding grin, as she walked over to her, that eased her nerves.

“Brulee! Glad you could make it. I hope you brought your appetite. I made way too much food as always.” Fia hugged the woman tightly before returning to the food to start plating it. Brulee stiffened at the contact and awkwardly hugged her back.

“It smells divine. Thanks so much for inviting me Fia!”

“What would you like to drink? I was just going to have some water since I’m dehydrated from my workout earlier.”

“Hm… I’ll just have some water too.”

“Alright! Where would you like to eat? We can go to my room or stay here if you prefer.”

Brulee’s eyes lit up at the prospect of going to Fia’s room so the woman chuckled and quickly had the chef’s help her cart all their food and drinks to transport it. When they were headed back to her room they passed the library which made her think about Katakuri’s inevitable appearance that evening. She let the chefs know to tell him she was in her room if he came looking for her, and they seemed alarmed at the prospect of him coming by.

The door decided to try and talk to Brulee since Fiadh always ignored him and said, “Would you like me to open for you~?”

“Yes. Please do.” Brulees actual response made the lazy looking homie smile brightly and the door swung open with gusto.

When they walked in Fia made arrangements on her bed for both women to lounge while they enjoyed their food. The chefs had quickly left after making sure they had everything one more time. Brulee stood awkwardly waiting to see where Fiadh wanted her to go.

Jumping up onto her bed she pats next to her after placing the cart by the bed saying, “C’mon Brulee! Food’s not gonna eat itself!”

“Heheh, okie…” The woman awkwardly shuffled onto the other woman’s bed and was quickly greeted by a huge pile of food on a plate.

They both dug in and sat in silence as they relished in the rich taste of seafood and pasta. This was a dish Fiadh hadn’t made in years and it made amazing comfort food with all the pazaze of fancy restaurant food. As she finished her second plate she caught Brulee staring at her like she had a question she was unsure to ask.

“What’s up?”

“Why are you so nice to me..?”

Fiadh tilts her head at this question and responds, “I dunno. Why are you nice back to me?”

“I haven’t done anything for you though!”

“Hahah! Lies, you brought me snacks while I was working. That was so insanely thoughtful of you. You went out of your way without me so much as saying anything to you.”

Brulee blushed brightly and stared down at her hands in embarrassment at Fiadh’s praise.

“Friendship is a two way street Brulee… It requires both parties to give and take, while that’s not always equal it does balance out.” Fia smiled at the woman and gave her a side hug before continuing, “You gave kindness and received kindness back. There’s nothing wrong with that! We’re friends so it’s only natural for me to want to pay you back for spoiling me!”

“But… I really didn’t do anything to deserve all of this.”

Fiadh frowned and flicked Brulee on her forehead. “Stop that. Don’t undermine your self worth. You are just as worthy of kindness as anyone else. And I say you’re well worth my effort and kindness! If you’re this moved by me making you some food I can only imagine what’ll happen when you get a gift, hahah!”

Brulee blushed again and murmured a soft, “Are you really okay being friends with a weakling like me..? I’m nowhere near as strong as my brothers.”

“Strength does not define your character. Most strong people in this world are assholes anyway. I want to be your friend because of you as a person, not because of some benefit it’ll bring me.” Fia smiled softly at the woman as she processed how hurt Brulee has been throughout the years.

Brulee gave Fia a watery smile back as she was overcome with emotions, while she had hoped the two could be friends she never really saw it as being a possible reality. “Thank you Fia. I appreciate your friendship.”

“And I appreciate yours Brulee! Now lets devour some desserts. They make everything better.”

Just as Fia was handing Brulee her first bowl of creme brulee a loud knock sounded at her door.

“Who is it?”

“Katakuri.”

“Oh! Come in.”

Brulee looked over at Fia in shock at her brother’s appearance and she just shrugged at her. The tingling on her shoulder was a surprisingly pleasant one as she was now trying to keep Jinbei’s words in mind. The tall man had stepped in and immediately saw the two women lounging on the bed with a cart still filled with food next to them. He purposefully refused to look or sit at that accursed chair gingerbread chair in the room. His eyes instead locked onto the donuts on the cart, and his mouth started salivating against his best efforts. Recently his merienda’s just weren’t as pleasant and it was making him grumpy and crave more sweets than normal.

“Would you like some..?” Fiadh’s kind tone threw Katakuri off and at first he wondered if she was talking to Brulee but then he made eye contact.

“Uh… No, I shouldn’t impose. I’m just here to drop off this.” He raised the food inspector’s notebook up, though his eyes seemed sad at having to turn down the desert. Fiadh giggled at the man who failed to hide his true feelings for the first time ever. 

“I’ll plate some up for you to take with you then. Would you like some of the pasta as well?”

Katakuri stared wide eyed at the woman. Fiadh had never talked so casually with him and it was throwing him off. Though he couldn’t find it within himself to be wary of it as he eyed the donuts longingly, and just nodded his head in response.

Brulee then chimed in, “Oniisan why are you here?”

“Brulee… I’m here to drop off Fiadh’s notebook I borrowed. It’s for our job for Mama.”

“Ohh, cool! Do you think Mama would let me go with you guys?”

Katakuri was surprised since Brulee hardly ever asked for anything, but he was mildly irritated at the thought of Fiadh spending all her time with his sister the entire trip. He saw how close they already were and it mildly irritated him which made him irritated with himself for such foolish thoughts. It was a good thing Brulee was making a friend and he should instead be making sure Fia had no ulterior motive. Too much time had passed and Katakuri realized he missed his chance to respond.

“Nevermind… That was a stupid thing to ask for anyway. I’m sure I’ll see Fia when you guys return anyway.” Brulee looked sad but accepting of her fate.

Katakuri didn’t know what to say in response so he looked over at Fiadh for help. The woman was busy getting plates full of food ready for Katakuri, but seemed to pick up that he required her assistance in this.

“Brulee, why don’t you just ask Big Mom? No harm can come from just that. I’d love to have you around for the trip.” Fiadh’s gentle tone seemed to soothe the woman’s insecurities momentarily.

“Yea, thanks Fia. I’ll go ask tomorrow if I can.” Brulee’s smile wasn’t very confident, but she was definitely not upset anymore.

“Good. Here you go Katakuri. Would you like to meet up tomorrow and we can go over all the stops and you can ask any questions pertaining to my plan?” Fiadh offered Katakuri the two plates of desserts and food.

“Sounds good. I’ll come find you in the evening.” Katakuri didn’t even look up from the donuts he was still locked onto. He quickly nodded his head at Fiadh and Brulee and left just as quickly as he arrived.

“Oniisan is just as awkward as always…” Brulee’s tone was a rueful, loving one. It was clear to Fiadh the woman greatly admired her brother which filled her with some hope he might not be as terrible as she initially thought.

Their night together continued with gossiping, eating, and even some deeper conversations. All in all it was a wonderful way to spend some down time and give Fiadh a break. She thoroughly enjoyed the other woman's goofy company. Though the laugh was still a little grating on the ears...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh just a little pleasant tingle now, huh?? What could that possibly mean for these two fated lovers. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Please let me know what you think of the story so far and all that.


	5. Snacks Ahead!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh truly has a knack for pissing people off. Also, late night food runs are apparently the place to be. Who'd of known?

That night Katakuri had quickly returned to his room with the pleasant thrill down his spine, and desserts in tow. He was still in shock by Fiadh suddenly offering him food and slightly embarrassed at getting caught gawking at the delectable sweets. Though having them in his hands at that moment made it impossible for him to regret it. The mere thought of his match being able to make such food filled him with childish joy. 

His happy thoughts were brought to a halt as he realized there wasn’t truly anything between himself and the food inspector besides the marks on their shoulders and being coworkers for this mission. While he savored the delicious donuts before eating the actual dinner his thoughts turned dark. Negative thoughts ran rampant as he berated himself for even thinking of the woman as his in any aspect. There was no point getting his hopes up when it came to people.

“How could anyone love a monster like me..?”

**_____________**

The next morning Fia got up bright and early to head out to the shore where the fishmen resided. It was a bit of a trek from the castle, but she thoroughly enjoyed the brisk morning air that cleared away some of the sickly sweet scent of the island. Fia was dressed similarly to yesterday as she was still on high alert after Oven’s declaration against her presence. It still wouldn’t stop the fiery woman from doing what she damn well pleased.

As she walked through town she was greeted by some shopkeepers she had become acquainted with after using their stores for her research. She was mildly amused at their indifference to her height and appearance that generally intimidated people. The woman also noticed various Charlotte children wandering the streets and purposefully avoided them. When she exited the town she was instead surrounded by obnoxiously nosey homies until she reached the coast. At the shore the fishmen stayed at it was booming with voices and laughter. She grinned in anticipation as she launched down the cliff only to be tackled by a dog pile of fishmen greeting her.

“FIADH-SAMAA!”

“Oof… Hi to you guys too!” Fiadh was mildly winded by the force of them hitting her but continued to smile widely at the rowdy bunch.

“Fia-sama, I’m glad you could come see us again.” Aladdin’s calm voice always seemed to calm the bunch down as they quickly stepped away from a squished Fiadh.

“Aladdin! I couldn’t leave without properly coming to chat with you guys.” Grinning toothily at them all Fiadh immediately felt at home with the bunch.

She settled and began talking about old times with the bunch as they reminisce about their youth on Fishman Island and as the Sun Pirates. Jinbei shared why he was there, and everyone's happy mood soured. Big Mom wanted to increase the candy amount again despite Jinbei making it abundantly clear they couldn’t meet such high demand monthly. The options were for one of the princes to marry one of her children or meet the demand. Apparently Praline being married to Aladdin wasn’t enough of a tie to the Fishman Island for Big Mom. Fiadh began mulling over ways to help them but Jinbei cut her off telling her not to worry about it. The wise shark seemed to have something up his sleeve that piqued Fia’s curiosity.

“I made a promise to a boy that I’d join his crew… My hope is that he will assist in liberating my home.”

Fiadh gasped before jokingly saying, “The proud Jinbei actually agreed to join a crew again?!”

Jinbei laughed but looked around at the remnants of the Sun Pirates with a morose look, “Sorry I’ll be leaving you guys when that time comes… But I feel I must support this one.”

“Boss Jinbei!! Don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine on our own.” The resounding support from his nakama made Jinbei watery eyed.

“Hmm… Don’t tell me it’s that Strawhat kiddo you helped at Marineford?” Fiadh’s question seemed to shock Jinbei which proved she was right.

“Yes, I believe he’s going to be able to do it Fia-sama.”

“Well if he gets my friend hurt I’m gonna school that brat!”

Aladdin called out in agreement and so did everyone else there. Jinbei just laughed and soaked in the support from his nakama. He knew their time together would come to an end soon, but they would forever be his crew regardless of where they were.

“We all wanted an excuse to go back to Fishman Island anyway. Praline has been looking forward to it since I brought it up to her.” Aladdin's smitten look at mentioning his wife made Fiadh snicker.

“That reminds me! Praline-san, we need to go have a lil girls chat!” Aladdin’s face turned white at Fiadh’s call.

“Ohhh, I’m glad you remembered Fia-sama.”

The two walked away as Aladdin was held down from following by Jinbei who waved them off. When they were at a secluded section of the beach Fia began asking some questions about how the two met trying to feel out if the two were forced into this marriage or if they did truly love each other.

“Fia-sama, while this doesn’t truly summarize everything I knew as soon as I met Aladdin that he was to be my husband for life.” The younger woman finished this with turning around to show a black mark that looked like a hammerhead with a squiggly circle around it on her lower back. “This appeared shortly after I was first introduced to Aladdin. Though at first I didn’t know if it would truly work out, I now know Branwen truly is never wrong. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Aladdin and I know it’s the same for him.”

Her gentle, loving smile made Fiadh feel an ache in her heart to have what she had. “I’m so happy he found you Praline-san. You two make a wonderful couple and I hope I didn’t offend you. I’m just a tad too defensive of my old friends.” Giggling at her own antics Fiadh looks at Praline with a new sense of respect and care as she is now a part of that family of hers.

Grinning slyly Praline comments to Fiadh, “A little fishy told me you have your own mark…”

“That snitch! I’m going to filet that scheming old whale!”

“Shishishi! Well Aladdin told me, but he did get the info from Jinbei… They’re just worried about you Fia-sama!”

Fia threw her arms in the air in defeat, “They’re all in on it great!”

“Shishishi, it’s all out of love, promise!”

“Ugh, I know… I just wasn’t ready for everyone to know.” The older woman whined like a child.

“Sooo, do I get to know who the lucky person is?” Praline’s wolfish grin made Fiadh aware that she had no other choice than to share now.

“Well… I haven’t confirmed it yet, but I have a pretty good idea.”

“Ohh, out with it!”

“I’m pretty sure it’s one of your older brothers…” Fiadh’s face turned bright red at the admission and made her feel very childish at this entire conversation. She wasn’t some little kid just hitting puberty and having her first crush, she was 40 years old for fucks sake!

Praline gasped in shock and stared at Fiadh in disbelief for a few seconds before saying, “Are you sure..? Do you know which one?” 

Her hesitant and soft tone unnerved Fia as she responded, “I think I know… It is most likely Katakuri.” Verbally admitting this made Fia flush red again and created instant inner turmoil over the statement.

Praline’s sigh of relief caught Fia off guard as she was expecting shock again, “Oh that’s good Fia-sama… I was worried it was going to be one of the other eldest siblings.”

“What do you mean..?”

“Katakuri-oniisan is actually a good guy… or at least I think so. He keeps to himself, but we younger siblings look up to him as he protects the family diligently. Family is everything to him and he doesn’t fool around like his other brothers.”

Hearing Praline talk highly of him eased Fia’s worries immensely and her inner turmoil took a backseat to gaining new information on her match. “Huh… He didn’t make a great first or second impression, but I’ve been trying to be more open to him per Jinbei’s request and he’s been shockingly tolerable.”

“Shishishi! Tolerable, huh? Yea, I agree with Jinbei. Just keep an open mind with him, he’s very secretive so I don’t know much more about him… Brulee-neesan grew up more close to them so she might know something!”

Making a mental note to ask Brulee if the opportunity arose you responded, “Thanks Praline-san, that really helped me.”

“Of course Fia-sama! Any friend of Aladdin is a friend of mine, I hope everything works out for you too.”

“Me too… Guess I owe you some dirt on you husband now!”

“Shishishi! I’ve been waiting for this for days Fia-sama!”

The two women began gossiping until it was late morning and they returned to the group. Aladdin looked even paler than when they had left and kept nervously glancing between Fia and Praline. Fia said her goodbyes to the bunch of misfits and scallywags and headed back to the castle. On the way back she stopped at a cafe Pudding had recommended for breakfast before going back to work.

After enjoying a large mug of tea and some dark chocolate chip cookies with a breakfast eggwich the woman quickly headed back to the castle to do some final preparations. Fia hoped to finalize the last two stops for the trip before meeting with Katakuri that evening. She started wondering if she should also make some more desserts for their meeting since he seemed to enjoy them. The thought mulled in her head while she tried to focus on her work. After she had sufficiently polished her last two plans she headed to the kitchen deciding she also wanted something sweet.

In the kitchen the chefs who were becoming accustomed to her presence quickly carried out what she requested and only asked if she needed any help. She went about making some dark chocolate brownies and a bowl filled with various donut holes from some excess dough the chefs had. While waiting for everything to finish baking she read through her notebook again to proofread it. It was getting to be pretty late in the evening so she asked the chefs for some dinner to be delivered to her room in two hours when she assumed she’d be about done. Fia also made sure she grabbed some containers so Katakuri could take the sweets with him.

Heading back to the library with arms full of her sweet snacks she found Katakuri already there and lounging on a table reading a book labeled “Shiratamako Island History.” Clearing her throat to get his attention Fiadh enjoyed how his eyes lit up at the sight of the sweets, but then she saw his reaction to her. His eyes squinted as though disgusted when looking at Fia and she instantly felt an icy freeze take over her insides. The pleasant tingle on her shoulder seemed to shift to a burning sensation.

“Ready to review the trip?” Fiadh’s voice came out more clipped than she had meant it to, but she was never the best at holding back her emotions in these scenarios.

“Ah, sure…”

The woman set the desserts on the desk she had been using and tossed the book at the man without looking at him. She settled into her seat and began munching on a brownie while rereading a book she had already scoured. Katakuri noticed her cold mannerism and winced as he realized it was due to him. Part of him wanted to apologize and clarify it wasn’t her he was grimacing at but himself. Deciding it was for the best to leave it, he tried to focus on the notebook. The sudden burning on his shoulder made the man contemplate if it really was for the best.

The two sat in silence as Katakuri read what she had edited for their final trips and noted she had added a trip to Alabasta between their two stops in the grand line. Raising an eyebrow at it he flicked through the pages trying to figure out it’s significance to no avail.

“What’s this trip to Alabasta? That wasn’t one of our planned stops.” Katakuri felt awkward in breaking the sterile silence, but his curiosity won out in the end.

“Personal stop, don’t worry about it.” Fiadh’s voice wasn’t as cold, but she made it clear not to pry. 

“Ah… Everything looks good to me. For our first stop is there anything you will need from me or the soldiers we’re taking?” Fiadh noticed that grimace when she made eye contact with him making her frown even more.

“No. The less involved you are the better. Don’t want to freak them out. They’re a peaceful nation and while their military is powerful they like things to be passive and run smoothly.”

“Okay. I’ll have to be with you for the first few meetings per Mama’s request.”

“Cool. I’ll keep that in mind.” She stared at him in complete disinterest. “Do you need anything else from me right now?”

“No, we can go over the second stop after we arrive at Shiratamako Island.”

It had only been an hour since they had sat down and Fiadh was already ready to run out of the library and away from the frustrating man. She was trying to keep what Praline had said to her in mind, but being stared at like the mere sight of you is repulsive royally pisses her off. The man clearly wasn’t willing to open up to her, so why would she bother doing the same. Although… Maybe he didn’t know they were matched, I mean he’d have to be quite dense but she had meant denser men in her life. Regardless, Fiadh wasn’t one to put up with anyone’s bullshit and wasn’t some dumbass girl chasing after the man so she let it go.

“Okay then. We can call it a night here then. I’m gonna head to my room for dinner and any last minute work I need to do.”

Grunting an affirmative noise Katakuri passes the woman’s notebook back to her and then eyes the donut holes on the desk. He then notices that she had brought containers as though she was prepared for him to refuse to eat them. Though she had never offered them reminding him of what an ass he must have seemed like. He didn’t mean to shy away from her and any eye contact it was just his internal battle kept him from being able to do so. Being completely isolated from his family due to his strength made him quite socially awkward when it came to these things.

Sighing Fiadh noticed that the giant of a man looked like a kick puppy looking at the sweets behind her. She turned without a word and packed two containers splitting the sweets, more in one than the other. Then handed the one with slightly more to Katakuri without a word.

Katakuri stared at the woman for a moment before accepting the container with a quiet, “Thanks.”

“No problem. Just quit acting like I’ve got some fucking disease.”

Katakuri shamefully looked away from the woman but said nothing.

“I’ll see yah around. I’m gonna head out now. Have a good evening.”

“Ah, you too…” Now he really felt like an ass…

**_____________**

The next day Fiadh lounged in bed until mid morning as she had no real plans. She thought that going to find Brulee would be a good idea, or maybe going to see her friends at the shore could be fun. Looking over at her nightstand she saw her katana she has been keeping in arms reach of her bed every night just to be safe and decided it needed some care instead. Dragging herself out of bed with her joints loudly protesting she wobbled her way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. 

Once done and lounging in sweatpants and a tank top she went to her balcony with her katana to begin cleaning and sharpening it. She also took her knives she rarely used to make sure they were still deadly and ready to go. By the time the woman finished her stomach was growling in protest as it was almost lunch time. Getting up on numb feet she made her way to the bell to get some food she also requested they get all her clothes washed for the trip. This was her self proclaimed lazy day before the trip from hell truly began, and god damnit she would enjoy it.

Big Mom had wanted to meet with her one more time, but had an emergency pop up as some upstart rookie was picking a fight on one of her islands. Instead she had gotten Perospero dropping by a letter to her and wishing her luck. Fiadh was honestly thankful she wouldn’t have to stand in that throne room in front of the temperamental yonko again.

After eating her fill of brunch she wanted to do something active. Running from the castle to the shore sounded like a pretty fun activity. Without much thought she headed out with just her golden cuff on her wrist. She took the long way to avoid the town and busy streets, sticking to the tree lines. Setting out at a sprint she enjoyed the rush of adrenaline through her body as she caught her stride. She made it to the beach much sooner than she wanted and realized just how small the island truly was. 

“Heyyy! Fiadh-sama!” A call from one of the fishman sent them all looking her way and calling out.

“Hey guys! Just stopping by before I have to leave.”

“Aweeee, you should come drink with us!”

“You guys know I can’t drink…”

“But it’s sooo funny Fiadh-samaa”

“Hahah! Maybe some other time boys. Tell Aladdin and Praline I said goodbye! Do you know where Ol’ Jinbei is?”

“He was supposed to meet up with Tamago and Pekoms today, but I’m not sure where…”

“Ah, oh well. Tell him I said goodbye too then! Thanks guys. I’ll see you all around, hopefully back on Fishman Island this time.” She forced a wide grin for the group of fishmen but couldn’t completely hide her disappointment in missing the whale shark.

“Byeeee Fiadh-sama!”

She turned around waving over her shoulder as she ran back the way she came to the castle. Another shower was definitely in order. As she made it back she saw the pink haired woman from before walking with Pudding up to the castle from town.

“Heyy! Chiffon, Pudding, how are you two?” Fiadh called out as she came to a walk beside them.

“Ohh, Fiadh-sama. Where did you come from?” Chiffon’s gentle voice instantly put Fiadh to ease.

“I was just going for a run. What’re you two up to?”

“Me and Chiffon are planning on making a cake for Mama! It’s for her tea time today.” Pudding was smiling angelically but Fiadh could tell there was something behind it.

“Oh, cool! Do you two need any help? I might shock you with my baking skills.” 

“Hmm, I could use some help in making the chiffon cake. I usually ask a chef to help, but it would be way more fun with you!”

“Awee, Chiffon that’s not fair! I was gonna ask her to help me with the chocolate frosting!”

“Hahah! I can help you both ladies. Let me go shower and change and I’ll come help you guys in the kitchen.” Jogging past them both girls noticed the mark on the older woman’s shoulder but kept their comments to themselves for now.

After a mad dash to her room Fia quickly showered and then threw on some more comfy clothes consisting of more sweatpants and a tank top, but this time taking her katana just to be safe. She hustled over to the kitchen not even acknowledging Oven’s presence down the hallway. The man irked decided to follow her, which Fiadh quickly took note of yet ignored. When she reached the kitchen Chiffon and Pudding were running around with ingredients trying to get everything laid out and ready to go.

Rolling up her sleeved Fiadh called, “Okay ladies, where do I start?”

For the next hour the three women worked in a craze to get the cake completed in time. All the while they had Oven and the chefs as an audience to their waltz throughout the kitchen as the three worked in perfect harmony. Oven seemed to be switching between staring at the mark on Fiadh’s shoulder and her ass, which did not go unnoticed by the woman. They got the cake done just in time and the chefs quickly carted it away to Big Mom. The three women shared a smaller version of the same cake as Oven finally walked over and eyed the cake suspiciously. 

“Oven-oniisan! Do you want to try this cake? It turned out sooo good, Fiadh has some kind of magical touch when cooking.”

“Awee, Chiffon. Don’t exaggerate, I just know some tips and tricks when baking.” The woman blushed at the compliment and continued to shovel the cake into her mouth in pure bliss.

“Hm… I guess a piece won’t hurt.” Oven’s sister Pudding cut and handed him a piece of perfectly delicious looking cake. As he took a bite he looked shocked as he stared at the cake in amazement. “I hate to admit it… But this is pretty damn good.”

Chuckling Fiadh looked quite proud of her accomplishment and so did the two other women.

Oven glared pointedly at her before saying, “It was clearly my sisters doing. Don’t get full of yourself food inspector.”

“Hahah! Whatever helps you sleep at night brat.”

He just continued to glare at her as he continued to munch on the cake which made Fia continue to laugh at the immature man. Despite his efforts to intimidate her Fiadh just felt like she was dealing with a jealous younger sibling.

“Well, this was fun, but I need to head back to my room and pack. Thanks for letting me help with the fun ladies. I’ll see you around. Byee yah hot headed brat!”

Fiadh ducked out of the kitchen before her insult could sink in but he heard the man begin cursing and following her down the hall. Fia cackled as she sprinted back to her room, beating the man there by a long shot. 

“Good night, shit head. Quit stalking me yah creep!” Fia called down the hallway at the fuming man chasing her before quickly slamming her door shut and locking it. Though she knew he could break in she was betting on him being smart enough not to truly start anything he couldn’t finish.

“Fucking bitch! Like I would ever follow your ugly ass around!”

“If my ass is so ugly why won’t you stop staring at it?!”

She heard angry loud footsteps as he stomped away from her door. The woman laughed to herself at the man’s expense before turning to her room that was already fairly tidy. She left most of her toiletries out for the next morning but packed all her clothing and any paperwork she thought she might need. All her clothes that had been washed were folded and placed on her bed neatly making them easy to pack up. Once she was done with that she settled in bed with a brain candy sci-fi book that she normally had no time for. After an hour or so she was interrupted by a quiet knock on her door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Brulee”

“Oh, come in!”

Brulee came in looking quite downtrodden and sad. She didn’t even pick up her head as she walked through the door.

“What’s wrong Brulee?”

“Uh… I asked Mama about joining you and oniisan and she wasn’t too happy about it. So basically it was a no… But I can still talk to you through a mirror if you want?”

“Oh… well we’ll just have to do that! Otherwise I’ll die of boredom being trapped on a ship with that impersonable giant.”

“Wiwiwiwi! Katakuri-oniisan doesn’t do it on purpose… He just doesn’t understand people very well.”

Fiadh was reminded of Praline suggesting she ask Brulee about the mystery that is Katakuri, but she bit her tongue as she remembered the man's previous reaction to her. She didn’t have any interest in talking about that man right now anyway.

“Soo… You can talk to me through mirrors, huh? That’s pretty damn cool!”

“Oh, yea. I ate the Mira Mira no Mi.”

“That’s cool! So you can walk through mirrors and use them?”

“Yea, I enter the Mirro-world and can travel that way. It’s one of the only reasons Mama keeps me close. I’m not strong or beautiful like my twin…”

“You have a twin??”

“Yes, she’s in charge of an island so she’s always busy there.”

“Oh, cool! But I think it’s cooler being able to travel wherever you want!”

“Wiwi! I guess it is a little bit cooler, huh?”

“For sure!”

The two women settled on Fiadh’s bed and continued chatting into the late hours of the night. Fia promised to keep a mirror in her room so they could chat a few evenings a week when they could. Brulee promised to bring her snacks with their visits as if Fia needed some sort of incentive. Though food was always a good way to the woman’s heart… 

After Brulee left Fia realized she had missed any reasonable time for dinner so she headed to the kitchen for a late night snack. When she got to the kitchen she noticed the lights were off but the shape of a tall man was standing by a counter with his back to her. The fact her haki wasn’t set off and the sharp burn on her shoulder made her assume it was Katakuri also there for a late night snack.

Clearing her throat to get his attention Fia asks, “Hey, is it okay if I turn the light on?”

The man almost jumped out of his skin in shock as he seemed to pull something up with his hands before turning to look at the woman like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Which wasn’t far from the truth. The man had crumbs from whatever sweet he had been eating all over his scarf and the counter. Her previous anger seemed to wash away as she stared at the man's shocked face. Part of her was irritated how easily her brain seemed to let go of their previous shit interaction, but she ignored that for now. The burn on her shoulder seemed to ease as she stared at Katakuri.

“Uh, yea sure…”

“Cool. You also here for midnight snacks?”

“Yea. You?”

“Yup. Thinking of making some quick fried rice. You want some?”

“Uhh, yea sure.” Katakuri’s face seemed to light up at the prospect of more food which made Fia chuckle. Seems the giant was over grimacing and looking at her like she was diseased.

“I suck at cooking just for myself so you’re honestly doing me a favor.” The woman got to work shuffling around the now familiar kitchen and quickly got the shrimp fried rice with vegetables and egg ready. Katakuri watched in awe as the woman skillfully maneuvered around the kitchen with practiced ease. He wondered at how her hands could move that fast while she wasn’t even looking at what she was doing. Before he knew it he had a heaping plate of fried rice in front of him and realized he had no way to eat it.

“Oh, right! I can sit on the other side of the kitchen with my back turned if you’d like? Or would you rather leave with your meal?” The genuine question without any judgement or disdain shocked Katakuri as he gaped at Fia.

“Uh…”

“I promise not to look! I’d just like to know what you think.” The woman grinned at him honestly for the first time and he’d be lying if his stomach didn’t do a little flip at the sight. 

It must have done something to him because before he registered what he was saying he said, “Okay, just turn away.” There was a very pleasant thrill down his back that kept him from redacting his statement and leaving with his food.

“Roger that!” The woman took a stool to the other counter facing a wall as she began munching away at her meal seemingly content at staring at the wall.

Katakuri put up a small mochi wall on the counter and behind him that would block any prying eyes from his mouth but allowed him to look up at Fiadh. He glanced up repeatedly to make sure the woman was keeping her word before he let his scarf dip down just enough to allow himself to eat, even with his wall he was cautious. He was mindful in making sure he didn’t make as much noise or a mess like usual, but he relished the food as he ate. For some reason Fiadh’s food was just better than anything else to him and every time he went without it during the day he felt disgusted by normal food. He wondered if it was some sick joke his mark was playing on his head. Katakuri stared at Fiadh’s mark that matched his own, shown proudly on her shoulder that was facing him now. Part of him wanted to walk over and trace it.

“It’s delicious. Thank you Fiadh.”

Fiadh’s face flushed against her will as she realized that was the first time the man had called her name. “A-anytime… Glad you enjoyed it.”

Katakuri noticed the woman’s ears were burning red and he chuckled quietly to himself. Despite his best efforts to ignore it, the woman was adorable in her own rough way. Though he could do without the goading of his brother as he had to deal with the man’s temper afterwards.

“Um… I’m gonna make some crepes now for the mornings departure. Do you have any requests?” The women's willingness to cook for the man again shocked Katakuri, but it seemed she enjoyed cooking for everyone.

“Anything’s fine.”

“Okay! It’ll be a surprise then. Is it okay for me to turn around now?”

Oh shit… He hadn’t meant to keep her staring at the wall this long. Katakuri quickly adjusted his scarf and said, “Yea. Sorry.”

“No worries! We all have our things.” The woman turned around grinning at him again that made his brain go blank for a moment.

“Well I’m gonna get these crepes ready to go. You’re more than welcome to hang out if you’d like to sample, but it’d ruin the surprise.”

Katakuri nodded and contemplated his options before saying, “I’d like to sample them if that’s okay with you.” The man felt surprisingly comfortable after the woman after realizing she would respect his boundaries and hold her word.

“Okay, sounds good to me!” She glanced over at the man with slight curiosity, but not prying, before getting to work. “Sorry if I’m not the best company. I can’t hold a conversation for shit while I cook.”

“Ah, no worries. I don’t talk much anyway.”

“Hahah! Yea I noticed. I don’t mind it. It’s peaceful.”

Now it was Katakuri’s turn to blush at the woman’s comments as he wondered if she really found being around him peaceful. Most people, damn, even his family were too intimidated to relax around him. Though, this strange woman seemed very relaxed around him as she cooked and mumbled to herself about flour to milk and egg ratios. The thought of it made his stomach flutter and even his rational brain couldn’t stop the little glimmer of hope he felt.

The evening went on with the two barely talking but occasionally Fiadh would finish a type of crepe and offer it to Katakuri. Who would rarely offer any critique and only praise it. It had quickly passed midnight and the two were both full on crepe tests with stacks more in containers ready to go for the morning that was quickly approaching. They split ways with a brief goodnight and Fiadh thanking Katakuri for his help and for enjoying her food to which he couldn’t muster a response in his flustered state. Both unbeknownst to the other enjoyed the pleasant tingles spreading through their bodies as they interacted one last time for the night. All in all it was a great night for them both, the calm before the raging trip of a storm.


	6. Scheming is Afoot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh and Katakuri go at it?? Plenty of snacks in this chapter as well. The bridge of this relationship definitely seems to be through their stomachs...  
> Who's that calling through Fiadh's private Den Den Mushi?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this chapter! Been super busy and then just had too much fun with this chapter so it's extra long. Hope you all enjoy the lil twist...

The next morning Fiadh woke up groggy and very cranky from a lack of sleep. Stumbling through her morning routine and making sure she packed the last of her things up, the woman wore her haori over a black t-shirt, a black sash with her katana, and blue jeans tucked into her normal tall boots. She was very happy that she had made crepes last night and even more pleased at setting off on better terms with Katakuri. This would be a total shit show if the two of them weren’t even on talking terms.

A knock at her door made her jump as she was just tying up her bag to head to the kitchen.

“Yea?”

“Hey, Fia-san. We came to say goodbye!” came Chiffon’s voice.

“Oh, come in!”

In walked Chiffon, Pudding, and Brulee they all wore smiles and looked way too peppy when the sun was barely shining.

“Are you all set to go Fia?” asked Brulee.

“Yea I’m all good to go. It was nice getting to meet you ladies. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again after this trip.”

“You better come see us again!” Pudding said as if offended I wouldn’t be coming by again.

“Stay safe!” said the ever kind Chiffon.

“I will. Thank you for coming to see me off. I better get going though, don’t want to piss everyone off by being late.”

“Of course!” “Safe travels! See you later Fia.” they all said.

Giving them all a quick hug she headed down to the kitchen to grab the crepes from the fridge and then headed out of the castle. Honestly Fia was looking forward to finally clearing her nose of the smell of sweets. Though it wouldn’t stop Fia from eating them it did give her a headache. Being on the oceans on a boat would also be quite nice, it’s been far too long.

Before she knew it she was boarding the boat and being directed by a crew member where her quarters would be for the trip. Just as she was going to take some stairs down below deck she heard her name being called. When Fia looked over the boat's rails she saw all of the Sun Pirates bobbing in the water and waving to her.

“FIADH-SAMA!!! BYEEE!” 

“HAVE A SAFE TRIP!” they all called.

Even the shy Wadatsumi was there waving to her.

“Thanks guys! See you when I get back. STAY SAFE YAH IDIOTS!!!” Fia called before waving and heading back to find her quarters. 

Out of the corner of her eye she caught Katakuri sitting on the railing staring at her while flicking a lollipop between his fingers. The action was hypnotising and she had to mentally scold herself from staring at the man's strong long fingers for any longer. Walking below deck she quickly located her room that she hoped she’d gotten right. Throwing her bag unceremoniously on the bed she quickly dug out any paperwork and set it into the drawers of the desk she was provided with. 

After somewhat settling in she went back up to see if they were setting off for Shiratamako Island yet. Most of their destinations were in the New World and not too far from Totto land. All in all if everything ran relatively smoothly the trip shouldn’t take more than five months give or take. 

When she got above deck Fia noticed the crew just getting ready to push off. They were taking one primary ship and then two other ships would leave in a few days as backup just in case some of the more testy islands weren’t being cooperative. Personally Fiadh prefers doing her job without bloodshed, but she was well versed in how pirate affairs normally went as her primary clientele were pirates. 

She mentally took note that it would only take four to five days to reach their first stop, which gave her ample time to make Den Den Mushi calls for work and down time to read. Looking around she noticed the crew was well behaved and that Katakuri had disappeared which made her realize that she had crepes to share with the man. One of the crew members told Fiadh where he might be and she quickly headed there. Luckily he was at the second suggested location, below deck near the storage bay. It was an odd place for the man to hide out in, but she wasn’t one to judge.

“Hey, Katakuri.” She called, trying not to startle the man.

Katakuri looked up at her and just tilted his head in question as to what she wanted.

“I brought the crepes I made, do you want to share them now? I can also split them and you can take them for later.”

“Oh, yea sure. I’m rather hungry now…”

“Me too. Follow me if you want food!” Fia felt like a cheeky kid as she lightly hopped down the halls of the large ship to her room. 

It was nice having a normal door again… When the two got there Fia made a show out of opening the door for Katakuri to walk in first which made the man frown but walk in regardless. 

“Which one was your favorite?”

“Hm… The boston cream crepe and the strawberry stuffed crepes are probably my favorite that you made…” Fiadh saw the man’s ears turn slightly pink at the admission which made her giggle, but nonetheless she dished those two types onto a plate for the man.

“Hope they’re still as good as last night.” Fiadh gave herself the swedish crepes and dark chocolate filled crepes.

“I’m sure they are.”

Now it was Fiadh’s turn to blush bright red. She really couldn’t handle compliments… There was a rather strong rush of tingles down her back that made her jolt slightly.

“Ah! Do you want me to turn around or leave?”

“Uh… nah. I’ll just make a wall.” Katakuri then made a wall of mochi in front of himself but still made it low enough to view Fiadh over it. The tingles that he felt on his back were pleasant, but annoyingly distracting.

Though the woman could only see tufts of his fuschia hair. Fiadh didn’t plan to try and look over it either, honestly she was just pleased with the slight progress. She knew better than to push this sort of thing.

“Oh cool! Is this…” Fia pokes at the elastic-esc wall. “Dough?”

“Well kind of. It’s Mochi”

“Awesome! Can I eat it..?”

“It won’t taste good, but yes.” Fia could tell from his voice he was thoroughly amused with her childish curiosity of it. It wasn’t often she met people with food based devil fruit abilities.

“Huh… Good to know! I’d still like to try it sometime if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Heheh! Fair…” With that the two quickly devoured their crepes. Katakuri was bothered by how comfortable he was around Fia, but didn’t feel the need to run away from it either. 

“Yup, still pretty damn good!” Fia exclaimed with a content sigh.

“Mhm. Thank you.”

“Anytime!”   
“Really..?” Katakuri’s tentative response took Fiadh off guard, but made her giggle and nod her head.

“Oh course! I enjoy cooking for good eaters.”

Katakuri removed his mochi wall to see Fiadh’s face and look for any signs of her being dishonest. As always the woman’s face was clear and honest as she stared him straight in the eyes. Fia grinned at the man and tilted her head in question at his stares.

“Mm… Thanks, again. I should get going.” Katakuri got up from the chair he had been inhabiting and headed for the door.

“Okay, see you later.” Fiadh called before saying, “Let me know whenever you want to eat together again!” 

She was surprised when the man nodded in affirmation to her half-assed offer. Guess she could look forward to some random meals with the man. Hopefully everything will keep her from getting too bored, because a bored Fiadh is a dangerous Fiadh.

**_____________**

The next couple days passed quickly with Fiadh locking herself in her room for long swaths of time to make Den Den Calls with various clients and business partners to keep everything running smoothly. She was irritated having to defuse a situation of a tempermental Marine Admiral demanding her presence last second because another war broke out somewhere. Luckily there were other people that did the same job as her that she could send. Though they never liked when she deflected like that since they knew it meant she was most likely dealing with a pirate crew. 

Fia did make sure to go above deck and get sunlight, enjoying the scent of a normal ocean breeze, and she slept wonderfully with the slight rocking of the ship every night. The crew kept a respectful distance, and she had barely seen Katakuri around, which worked for her as it gave her ample work time. It was also nice finally spending so much time alone after being overrun by the Charlotte family in the castle every day.

Meals were still overly fancy for a pirate ship, but it was the Big Mom pirates and one of the Sweet Commander’s ships. So of course the chefs would be just as well trained and achieving the same level as the ones in the castle. The ship was also a massive galleon though it seemed to fit the owner in being simpler and painted modestly, it did have some decorations that looked distinctly like donuts though.

It would only take them roughly two more days to arrive at Shiratamako Island and Fiadh’s peaceful days would come to a close. Currently it was a blistering hot day as the weather’s mood swings decided to pick an extreme. Fia looked over the rail and was highly tempted to dive into the ocean for a cooling swim, but also knew it’d raise alarm with the crew so she refrained for now. Though a cooling beverage was definitely a must.

Heading to the kitchen Fia was single minded in getting a drink made, but she passed by many haggard crew members on the way. Guess she would have to make an entire vat of a refreshing beverage to share with everyone. When she got there the chefs all glanced at her in question and Fia suddenly realized it definitely wasn’t the bunch she had become accustomed with at the castle.

“Hey… Sorry to bother you all, but I was wondering if I could make a drink for the crew and myself.”

“Oh, we can make it!”

“No, no. I’d like to do it myself if that’s fine.”

They looked slightly wary of the idea, but relented and quickly explained what they had on board that they could spare. Fiadh decided on making a raspberry vanilla soda with the ingredients she was given. It should refresh, energize, and hydrate the crew. Making fast work of it, she had three large jugs full of it in no time, and asked for carts to wheel it up to the deck and cups for everyone. 

When Fiadh got there she found many pathetic crew members trying to hide in the shade for some form of relief.

“Hey, could you help me get everyone here for a moment? I made a drink for everyone to help with the heat.” Fia called to them. 

They perked up at the idea of something cold and quickly dispersed to get everyone. Fia made sure to ask the chefs to kind Katakuri too as she had left them a smaller pitcher full of the drink for himself and another for her after the crew got theirs. She was quickly swarmed by sweaty pirates that eagerly lined up and waited for her to tell them what to do.

“Thanks everyone! These two containers are a raspberry vanilla soda, and the other is a mint ice water for anyone who might be allergic or not like it. Please help yourselves in an orderly way. There’s plenty for everyone!”

They all cheered her name and praised her as being an angel to which Fia turned bright red at and cursed at them to get their damn drinks and go back to work. She set back downstairs before any of them could try and embarrass her anymore. 

When she got back to her room she left it open as she enjoyed her own bit of the drink. Knowing everyone would be feeling better filled her with joy. It made her think back to when she’d do things like this for her own crew and nakama. That was such a bright time indeed.

Fiadh quickly tried to divert her mind away from that time before she went too far down the rabbit hole. Instead she wondered if Katakuri enjoyed the drink and got an itch to go find him and ask. She was getting annoyed with herself, feeling so driven to seek out the man and spend time with him. 

What was irritating was that she knew it couldn’t just be blamed on her mark. It was also pure curiosity and interest in the man himself. He was always fun to talk to, mess with, and even just be around in silence. Fia was normally a very good judge in character, but with Katakuri she knew her initial judgment hadn’t been accurate at all. Now she could tell that he was a genuinely decent guy that was caring and loyal to his family. Besides all the mysteries around him, Fia knew he tried to push others away from something that happened. She was the same way after all. There was a reason she had never joined another crew again.

That evening Fiadh didn’t sleep as well as she had been, but she was still pleased that the crew had opened up to her after today. She still couldn’t help but wonder what Katakuri thought about it, so she set herself on asking him tomorrow with the offer of some breakfast.

**_____________**

The next morning Fiadh woke up and the weather had done a complete 180. It was frigid and she had to pull out her travelling cloak. The crew was also all bundled up so after breakfast she requested the chefs make hot chocolate for everyone and just left them with her recipe. She made two dark chocolate mugs and went out to find Katakuri. 

It felt weird going out of her way to find the man but she decided against second guessing it for now. If the mark on her back was giving her that push towards the enigma she’s bound to she wouldn’t fight it for now. Her work would always be the priority of her life, and it was convenient that her work is intertwined with him for now. 

She reached the door that a crew member had pointed out as being Katakuri’s quarters. It was on the other side of the ship from hers which explained why she hadn’t been seeing the man. Knocking on the door she heard shuffling inside and something crashed onto the floorboards.

“Who is it?” Came a grumply voice from inside, distinctly Katakuri-esc.

“It’s Fiadh. I come bearing hot cocoa.”

There was a loud groan then the door opened. The man was in much more relaxed attire than normal and was missing any sort of shirt. Which the woman must say she appreciated, though he didn’t normally wear shirts anyway. His scarf was hastily tossed around his face and his hair was exceptionally tousled. A shiver ran down her spine and she couldn’t blame it on the mark this time.

“Hey sleeping beauty! Sorry for waking you up.” Fiadh held out the mug to the man with a cheeky grin suppressing any outward reaction to his appearance.

“Ughh… Why’re you up so early in this cold..?” He still accepted the drink and had stopped half-heartedly glaring at the woman and instead turned into his room leaving the door open for her. Absentmindedly Katakuri thought to himself that he wouldn’t mind this sort of wakeup more often… Just maybe not so early.

“I got up at a very reasonable time, thank you. I wanted to know what you thought of the drink yesterday! Also I’m bored.” The last part was more of a cover up though she definitely would have been bored otherwise.

“Hm… It was delicious.” The man took a large sip of the cocoa while facing away from Fia and took a seat on his bed. “So is this… Thanks.”

“Anytime! Glad you liked it.”

“However, I wouldn’t suggest waking me up again. I don’t enjoy being woken up by others.”

“Ah, yeaa sorry. I’ll keep that in mind!” She grinned sheepishly and took a seat by the man's empty desk. His room was shockingly empty and bare of anything personal. Which was interesting since this was his ship.

“Did you want anything else?” Katakuri had shrugged his normal jacket on and was looking at the woman far more awake.

“Nah, like I said, just bored!”

“Hm… We could look over some stuff for work or go spar. I need to work a knot out of my shoulder.” 

“Ohh, let’s spar! I need to stretch my legs a bit.” Fia mentally noted that both herself and Katakuri were no longer kids and thus have aches and pains from years of abuse to their bodies. “Weapons or no weapons?”

“Hm… Weapons.”

“Sounds good! Get moving in the cold will be good training.”

“Mhm. I’m gonna get some food. Good for an hour from now?” Katakuri was surprised he had even offered this arrangement, but he definitely didn’t regret it. He was curious just how strong the woman was.

“Perfect! See you then. Thanks Katakuri!” Fia hops out of the chair and grins at the man before heading out the door back to her room. Fiadh thought to herself about just how much fighting she had been getting recently, it was like a throwback to her years as a pirate which was surprisingly enjoyable.

An hour from then Katakuri and Fiadh stood on deck having cleared the crew from the area, though some lingered to watch. There was a tense silence between the two as they stared one another down waiting for any movement. Both were very conscious of the other in many ways, including the tingling on their shoulders. Fiadh’s hand rested on her katana poised to start at any moment. No words were exchanged as Katakuri lunged towards her with his spear. Fia used her katana to deflect it and got a taste of his mochi abilities as the man lengthened his arm to punch her in the face.

Fiadh fell with the punch so the blow wasn’t heavy to gain distance from the man. She quickly ducked low and slashed upwards at the man's wrist holding his Mogura. He split his own wrist and let the slash pass through and felt a thrill down his spine of both adrenaline and pleasure. The woman was fluid with her movements yet powerful. She looked shocked at the attack's lack of contact so she jumped backwards out of range of his spear.

“That’s an interesting way to use an ability…” Fiadh stared down Katakuri like a predator as she circled to his right. 

Katakuri didn’t respond, but his eyes flashed and he launched himself at the woman twirling his spear before bringing it in a downward arc. Fiad met it with an angled blade to let the hit slide off and spun to slash at the man's exposed side. Yet again he used his ability to split himself around the attack. Fiadh released a frustrated sigh and was reminded again as to why she disliked devil fruit eaters.

“Already done?” Came the taunting man’s voice. He felt a thrill as he watched the fiery woman’s growing frustration.

“Fuck off…” Fiadh stared down at the man before saying, “I still want to try and eat it.”

Katakuri felt his face heat up in embarrassment at the thoughts he had over the innuendos there, and also tilted his head at the odd woman’s thought process. As he took in the woman’s goofy childlike expression he felt something melt within himself. Instead of dwelling on it he lunged back at the woman with his spear going for a similar attack that she did.

“I can do everything you do, but better with this power.”

“Hmm… We’ll see about that.” Fiadh launched herself back and parried his blow bringing her face close to his saying, “I get that you’re stronger but a battle is more than just strength. Cute ears by the way.”

Fiadh snickered as she blew air on the man’s flaming red ears and again pushed his spear away while making a slash at his torso. She instantly noticed his dodge was far slower than before as he seemed distracted by her actions. His face contorted from shock, confusion, and frustration in the matter of seconds. He also notes the slight nick on his stomach from the woman and that she pulled away from doing any actual damage.

“Wow… Low blow.” He muttered.

The rhythm then shifted and Katakuri did more hunting then stalking in circles with the woman. He pounced on every chance and no longer shied away from using brute force to over power Fia. Their dance of blades continued with an increasing number of crew gathering to watch the debacle. 

Meanwhile the woman was grinning like a fiend, this is what she wanted. She doesn’t like men trying to be chivalrous during a spar and bias from her being a woman. Though she also didn’t want to get seriously injured so she wasn’t about to poke at the man anymore. As is she would be covered head to toe in bruises and scratches tomorrow. Hopefully no one at Shiratamako would pay it any mind. Fia also noted that while Katakuri wasn’t pulling any strike he also wasn’t playing dirty and was rather straightforward and upfront with his attacks.

Eventually it has to come to an end. Unsurprisingly Fiadh’s endurance was worn down by Katakuri’s onslaught of attacks. She felt very out of shape while sparring with a partner like the Sweet Commander, but it also didn’t surprise nor disappoint her. She was proud of lasting the past hour and being able to return some blows of her own. Clearly he had been taking it relatively easy on her as it was just a spar, but still Fiadh felt she had every right to have some pride in her rusty fighting skills.

When Fia slipped up it was due to her mental and physical exhaustion. Her left ankle didn’t support her duck to the left as the spear came down like a guillotine at her head. She did her best to keep her eyes open and aware with her surroundings but couldn’t help flinching. The man skillfully stopped the spear right by her neck. Fiadh’s pulse pounded and sweat poured from every pore in her body. 

‘Damn injuries…’ Fiadh thought bitterly to herself.

Giggling awkwardly Fia looked up at the man instead of the spear and said, “Yea… I lose, I’m tired.” She then promptly plopped on her butt with a sigh. Her ankle would probably be quite angry tomorrow so she made a note to wrap it later.

They both heard a mixture of cheers and boos from the surrounding crew.

Katakuri grunted at her and brought his spear back to his side. “Yea you look half dead.”

“Shut it… You broke a sweat too!” Grinning cheekily she called, “I made a Sweet Commander break a sweat!!!” Throwing her arms up Fiadh plopped onto the cold deck.

Katakuri chuckled lowly and stared at the childish woman. He noticed he couldn’t control the grin on his face and judging from the pain in his face muscles he had been grinning for most the sparring match. That’s rather odd and an interesting thought, but he was glad his scarf was in place for more reasons than one for once. Thoughts and feelings about how the woman sprawled on the deck made him feel felt deadly, but he couldn’t find it within himself to shut it out. He took a moment to appreciate the willful woman’s sprawled form, so different from the calculating beast he had just sparred with. The change was surprisingly welcomed in his mind.

“I’m gonna go clean up! Want me to make you a snack when I make mine? I always have to eat after this much exertion.” Fiadh dramatically sat up and rolled her shoulders. “I’m too old for this much abuse man…”

Snorting Katakuri responds, “You’re far from old. Yea a snack sounds good.” 

There it is again… That inability to deny the woman. Though her food was always good, so clearing that’s it. The mark on his back itched and all he wanted was a cold shower.

Katakuri offered the woman a hand in getting up which she accepted. The contact sent an electric shock through her hand which she summed up as being static. Grinning Fiadh nodded her thanks and headed below deck. 

She felt better after sparring and though she griped, her body actually felt lighter from making it move. This connection she was feeling to the chivalrous, sweet gobbling, commander was surprisingly pleasant. She was already seeing that what Praline and Brulee had told her wasn’t baseless. 

The man definitely was layered and she wanted to peel them back if possible. Shying away from this didn’t seem to be the best path when stuck on a boat for work with the person, so she’s chosen to face it more head on. Maybe by giving him bite sized dosages of herself it’ll help in him being able to open more.

After Fiadh showered and changed she headed to the kitchen to make a light snack and chocolate drinks for recovery. As she aged Fiadh increasingly focused on caring for herself and her broken body. Quickly she put some cut fruit into a platter and some leftover snacks the chefs offered her. Fiadh mainly focused on making a frothy chocolate and peanut butter drink that was the key part. She then headed out to Katakuri’s room with a little platter of the snacks and drinks.

When Fia got there the door was closed and she had no hands available to knock on the door, so using her foot she kicked at the bottom of the door.

“Hey, Katakuri! It’s Fia, can I come in?”

She heard stumbling and thumps coming towards the door. The door then cracked open and Katakuri’s face popped into view. Well… One of his eyes and part of his nose.

“Um… Everything okay? I can leave your half and go to my room if you want.” Fiadh grinned sheepishly at the clearly ruffled man.

“No. One second.” Katakuri then shut the door and more fumbling could be heard from the room then after a few minutes he called, “You can come in.”

Fiadh pushed the door open after he unlatched it and walked in scanning the room. There were clothes that had been thrown about then shoved into a chest half hanging out that made her giggle. Then Fia went to place her food on the desk and looked at Katakuri with a sly smirk.

“Did you get all dressed up just for me?” Fia looked the man up and down noticing that he was actually wearing a shirt with his normal pants and boots.

“No…”

Fia immediately saw his red ears and shifty eyes. Giggling she decided to let it go and turned back to the snacks to grab her drink and offer him his with a cheers. Then came the complication… He couldn’t enjoy his drink with her being there. While she was understanding of this Fiadh was finding it increasingly irritating not being able to see the man’s first reaction or feel fully casual around him. It irritated the woman further that she even cared about such things. 

Despite her feelings of irritation Fiadh had actually come prepared. She pulled a straw off the tray and offered it to the man with a cheeky grin. Fia knew better than to push the man and would simply respect his boundaries as much as possible.

Katakuri looks at her with wide eyes before accepting the straw with a quiet, “Thanks.”

“Haha! No problem. Let me know what you think of the drink.”

Surprisingly Katakuri actually started the conversation before Fiadh this time.

“You seem to really like chocolate…”

“Yea, dark chocolate is my favorite dessert! What’s yours?”

“Donuts.”

Fiadh saw the man’s ears turn red again and felt a thrill as she thought of just how cute his reaction was. A week ago she would never have looked at this giant of a man and thought “Cute.”

“Makes sense! You definitely seemed to enjoy mine. I’ll have to remember to make them again…” Fiadh watched his expression as his eyes slightly widened in excitement. The woman had to bite the inside of her cheek to no giggle at him.

“This drink is really good by the way, thanks.”

“Of course! Always important to have a recovery drink and snack.” Fiadh munched on some fruit chunks and eyes the chips as her next target. 

She completely missed Katakuri openly staring at her munch away. He caught himself before she noticed and went back to focusing on his drink, specifically staring at the straw the woman had brought with him in mind. His mind started wandering to their shared mark and wondering if Fiadh knew of it, or if she was just being friendly because they were working together. Part of him felt selfish at hoping she knew and was knowingly acknowledging him.

“So… We’re gonna make it tomorrow. For the initial interaction I’ll need you there as we previously discussed. I should be getting a call from the King later tonight in confirmation.”

Katakuri felt irritated at the thought of talking about work but immediately smothered the feeling. They were supposed to be here for the work anyway, what happened to his previous resolve…

“Ok, sounds good.” He made eye contact with Fia as she was staring at his chest. Specifically the right side of his chest where on the other side of his body was his mark. Immediately it clicked. She knew.

Fiadh broke her gaze and smiled at him saying, “Awesome. I’ll see you in the morning then. The rest of the snacks are all yours.”

“Alright, thanks.” Katakuri felt selfish and irritated that he had wanted her to stay and talk longer. 

With that the woman got up and left for her room and Katakuri just stood there reeling. Maybe it was a coincidence, but the way Fiadh had stared made him think otherwise. 

**_____________**

Later that day Fiadh’s Den Den Mushi rang loudly as she was lounging reading a brain candy book. It startled her into spilling her hot chocolate onto herself, leading to a stream of curses as she picked it up. It was her private, completely secure Den Den Mushi, which confused her and so she assumed it was Marco or Jinbei calling for some emergency. Instead a deep, exhausted sounding voice came from the other side.

“Fiadh-ya.”

“Ohhh, Law-kun~! How’re you!” Fiadh couldn't help but squeal as the boy hardly ever bothered to call her anymore. Meaning he most likely had a professional question or a favor to ask.

“I… uh…” The eyes of the Den Den Mushi shifted side to side uncomfortably.

‘Yup definitely needs a favor’ thought Fia.

“I’m going to need your help in a few years time…”

“Hm… Scheming as always.” Fiadh sighed before continuing, “I wish you wouldn’t do this Law-kun.”

“Quit treating me like a kid.” He growled out, the Mushi’s face contorting into a scowl.

“Hey, I’m still your senior brat!”

She heard a distinct mumbling from the snail that sounded like “Senior citizen” to her, but she let it slide.

“I promise I won’t ask you for anything else again. I’ll also do my best to keep your official ties intact!” Law sounded surprisingly desperate and it cracked the woman’s thin shield of reserved caution.

“Law, you know you can ask me anything. Also, you’re aware I will do ALMOST anything for you if I believe it’s what you truly desire.” Fiadh smirked and continued, “Is this what you truly want to do?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation and it made the woman grin wolfishly. 

‘Man Corazon, you sure did a number on this kid...’ she thought to herself.

“Alright, kiddo. Give me the details of what you need and I’ll do what I can.”

The sigh of relief from the other side made her giggle. Watching the boy had been both Sengoku and Cora’s one and only personal request of her, but now it was her own wish too. She wasn’t one for babysitting, but this boy didn’t need a babysitter; he needed a sponsor. Which was something she was quite capable of doing from the shadows.

Fiadh is always reminded of how she had been introduced to the boy. He was a spunky rebellious twerp that refused to let her help him in any way at first. She had just started making a name for herself in her business at the time, and despite what she might verbally say, the boy did fill a void in her heart after all the loss she had experienced at the time.

They talked for another few hours, most of it spent scheming, and part she spent reminiscing for a bit while Law stayed completely silent. Eventually she had to hang up as her other Den Den Mushi began to ring. This time it was the King of their destination, and the call was short. Little information was shared over the unsecure line, and all they did was confirm the rough arrival time. 

Once that was finished Fiadh got out another journal that was filled with personal missions and kept locked with a special key. Opening it using her locket necklace she usually wore, she began writing a rough outline of Law’s plan and kept a running list of ideas to execute it. Luckily the boy was clever and gave her plenty of time to plan, this made the woman swell with pride in how far he’s come.

Afterwards she went to get a late night snack, which made her think about Katakuri. The man also tended to stay up late… Maybe he’d want a snack too. She found herself absentmindedly making extra portions of her snack. Which was a cheese platter with preserved meat cut up as well as some donut holes form excess dough. 

Fiadh contemplated taking some to him, but eventually deemed it a bad idea. She felt she was bugging the man far too much as is, so instead she left the snack in the fridge with a piece of paper with Katakuri’s name written on it. If he came looking for a snack this way he’d have something. Her growing soft spot for the man was both annoying and welcomed, she truly hopes Branwen knows what the fuck she’s doing… 

**_____________**

Later that night the man did go to find a snack and when he found Fiadh’s note in the fridge he distinctly felt something within himself melt. He took them to his room and savored every bite, Katakuri could not remember a time he was so blissfully content. His worries and anxiety over the matter was quelled for that night and he went to sleep looking forward to the next day.


	7. A Burning Remembrance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh is haunted by her mysterious past and Katakuri tries to face his insecurities and emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late! I've had this done for a while just no time to upload it. Hope you enjoy.

The next morning Fiadh woke up early in a cold sweat. She was rudely awoken from her nightmare by being murdered. Her scar ached and burned which made her itch at it in frustration. It was a dream she frequently had and was a partial replay of her memories of when she lost her crew and partially her subconscious concocting the worst deaths possible for herself and her late crew. Though it no longer affected her as much the dream always left a bad taste in her mouth and was normally a premonition of a generally bad day.

Fia got up rather than trying to sleep to clean up properly, dress nicely, and insure she was ready for the day. Her white button down shirt was tucked into black dress pants, with her dark green sash around her waist held together by the tree broach, and dress flats for shoes. Her necklace hung proudly around her neck with the golden cuff as her only weapon, and she debated what to do with her rats nest of hair. She remembered a time these days would stress her out, but now she just felt a thrill of excitement. Though today it was squandered by a sourness left by her dream. She’d have to mentally scold herself all day into being civil and focused for the upcoming discussions. 

Fiadh was also quite glad the mark on her shoulder had stopped burning so frequently, and she had even begun forgetting about it up until this morning. While she was contorting to look through a small mirror to put her hair up in intricate braids she kept catching glimpses of it. It surprised even herself that seeing it eased her mind and put her in a slightly better mood. She ordered a light breakfast from the chefs and took it onto the deck. 

When she got there the passing crew saluted her and greeted her with smiles. They were quite accepting of her after just a few small acts of kindness which made her happy. Good relations with them meant for smooth sailing ahead. She settled on the railing of the ship and looked at the speck on the horizon that was their destination. Her sharp steel colored eyes could just make out the rounded mountain tops that she knew were dusted in white. 

‘Hopefully this will be a quick and painless stop…’ Thought Fiadh, she knew she didn’t have enough patience within herself today for any major complications. 

Though she prided herself on her professionalism even she had days of exceptions, such as these rare ones. It was never pleasant being reminded of her youth. There were few exceptions in which she would discuss it, Jinbei being one of them.

A few hours later Fiadh could still be found sitting on the railing staring off into nothingness yet in the direction of their ever closer destination to hide this fact. Katakuri had noticed her a while ago and decided against trying to talk to her as he saw her steely countenance. It mildly concerned him seeing the usually lively woman look so cold, but he knew it wasn’t his place to pry. Part of himself felt bitter at his inability to help the woman, but it was quickly smothered.

Just as they were getting ready to dock, Fiadh suddenly moved; she went downstairs to gather her folder and quickly look herself over. Her braids were loosened by the ocean breeze but she left it and headed out. Katakuri met up with her as the plank was being set up for them to depart. As soon as Fiadh stepped onto the dock she put in place a mask of a perfectly controlled business smile. Which did not go missed by the man walking next to her.

“Miss Fiadh?” Said an older man in a modified set of knights armor meant to be light and efficient. 

Despite his age he looks strong and not one to be messed with, probably a captain of the guard or such. He was eye level with Fiadh, no one there was quite as tall as Katakuri which made sense. The man had to be part giant.

Fiadh nodded to him without a verbal response which she is met with glares from the younger guards behind the man that she pointedly ignored.

“It’s an honor to meet you, I’m Captain Roti.” He says with a curt salute. “I’ve been instructed to escort you and Mister Charlotte Katakuri to the castle.”

“Alright, lead the way captain.” Fiadh kept a relaxed body and the cold business-like smile in place with a nod of her head. She then turned cold eyes onto the guards behind him and raised an eyebrow, “Would you like some assistance training these puppies?” She asked with unabashed venom.

All the soldiers began shuffling uncomfortably and mumbling to one another in clear irritation.

Katakuri’s eyes widened in shock and he snorted. ‘As expected she can definitely hold her own’ he thought to himself.

Captain Roti’s face flushed red in embarrassment as he turned a glare to his men and roared out, “APOLOGIZE YOU DOUGHBOYS!”

The insult made Fiadh snort unamusedly, but it seemed to do the trick as all the soldiers snapped into a 90 degree bow and bellowed out an apology. She waved them off and looked at the Captain clearly appeased for now, “Alright, that’s good for now. I’m sure you know how to discipline your men Captain.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I apologize for their disrespect, many of them are too young to even know of what you’ve done for this nation.”

Fiadh smirked at everyone’s shared confusion and the fact the captain did know. It was kept under tight wraps of her interference in the civil war here fifteen years ago that led to the current king to be placed on the throne and peace made. The captain bowed and then turned to escort them to the castle. Luckily they would still make it there on time otherwise Fiadh would have had all the soldiers there running laps until they passed out for making her late. Time is money, time can cost lives, time is always of the essence for people like Fia.

When they walked through town Fiadh was reminded that while her height was more common in the New World she was still a large woman. Though it did help walking beside a man even taller than herself. You’d think after so many years she would be accustomed to the stares, prejudice, and judgement, but it’s hard regardless. It definitely bothered her less and she walked with pride at her full height.

The town was lively, vibrant with colors, and filled with stores carrying various bread bakeries, and grocery stores. Though Totto Land had its own flour island ran by Katakuri they needed the specific sweet flour of Shiratamako Island for a special cake for Big Mom. Also, they wanted better relations for future needs which was where Fiadh came in. 

She already had good connections with the King here and could act as a bridge so as to not get the nation in trouble for directly interacting and supporting a pirate crew. Fiadh was counted as one of the only acceptable middlemen in all the seas, as no government or pirate crew will fuck with her and her work. She felt Katakuri’s eyes on her as they approached the offwhite castle that reminded her of dough. It was shockingly plain compared to the townspeople's housing. Fia enjoyed that the island was only pleasantly sweet and mostly smelled of bread and herbs compared to Cake Island.

“When we get there don’t react to whatever the King tries to pull.” Fiadh comments quietly.

Katakuri nodded his head in understanding. He was still mildly concerned at how cold Fiadh seemed and wondered if it was just how she did her work.

As they walked through the doors into a simple court with modest gardening and a beautifully sculpted fountain with their deity the white serpent surrounding wheat stalks in the middle. A blur of white startled Katakuri as Fiadh got flattened out. A short but round woman laid flat over Fia blubbering and talking incoherently as Fiadh patted her back. Katakuri stared with wide confused eyes at the situation.

“Princess… You need to get off now, I can’t really breathe.”

“B-b-but FIADHHH-SAMAA!” The young girl wailed clinging even more.

Fiadh sat up and stood up scooping the not so girl up with ease. Katakuri had to admit it was impressive that she could stand up that easily with the other girl in tow. Fia set the girl down and helped smooth out the long white gown she was wearing of high quality silk. The girl has a round but pleasant face, bright blue eyes, and strikingly blonde hair. She carried her weight surprisingly well and actually had a curve shown off by the dress, the princess was around 15 years old and stared up at Fiadh with wide watery eyes.

“No buts Princess. I have a meeting with your father. Where is King Tamako?” Fiadh patted the girl on top of the head, she only came up to Fiadh’s belly button in height.

“Dad’s in the front hall waiting for you… I wanted to be the first one to see you though!” The princess then turned and glared at Katakuri, while grabbing Fiadh’s hand and tugging her towards the castle doors.

Fiadh’s cold business-like smile seemed to melt into a real one after interacting with the clearly spoiled princess. Katakuri found it interesting that the tough woman had a soft spot for children. He felt a tingle from his mark go up into his chest making it warm, for some reason he felt glad she liked kids. The man didn’t have it within him to crush this bit of hope growing within himself.

As the group made it inside a short and round man came lunging at Fiadh with something glinting in his hand. Katakuri instinctively used his devil fruit and created a wall to block him. He heard a frustrated huff and some stomping as the man walked around it to glare up at him. This short man was wearing a large crown and was clearly the king, though he was shorter than his own daughter in height. 

“Hello King Tamako.” Fiadh replied with a small smile as she stared down at the short man in a brightly colored suit.

Huffing again he turned his glare to Fia and said, “Why did he go and ruin my fun?! I just wanted to show you my latest and greatest weapon!”

“I apologize, but Katakuri isn’t accustomed to your wilful ways, your majesty.” Katakuri noted that Fiadh’s cold business smile was back for this man.

“Pish posh! Everyone just ruins my fun…” He stomped like a child before suddenly undergoing a complete 180 in personality, straightening his bright red tie, and smiling professionally at Katakuri, “You must be the Yonko Big Mom’s eldest son. Pleasure to finally meet you.”

Katakuri nodded his head, and glanced at Fiadh for assistance in what to do next. The socially awkward man was concerned he had already potentially messed up in his reflexive defense against the king. He stared uncomfortably down at the man that looked like Christmas had thrown up on his suit, and thought regardless of what he did he could just do this the pirate way as normal. Something about Fiadh being there made him hesitate from doing so though… 

The chance of her disappointment being pointed at him made his heart clench in a frozen grasp. Whatever this woman was doing to him, that was melting away his defensive wall he builds between himself and others, it was terrifying. He felt certain Fiadh didn’t truly know what she was doing to him, so he couldn’t hold it against her at all, which was even more frustrating.

“Well I’m sure you’ll find a chance to try out your weapon Tamako-san.” 

“Yes… Well, follow me Fiadh-sama! Might as well get to work.” 

Fiadh waved at Katakuri to follow and raised an eyebrow to get the princess to stay. The three exited the front hall and went down a hallway to a decent sized room with a large table meant for meetings. Katakuri appreciated that all the ceilings and doors thus far were accommodating of his height.

“Okay, let's get to business.” Said Fiadh as she laid out her journal and carefully organized papers. She quickly handed a stack to the king and a stack to Katakuri to follow.

“Hm… This seems reasonable. Why does she want almost only sweet flour though?” Inquired the King after doing a cursory scan of the document.

“It’s for a special desert. She already has her own flour production but, Big Mom requires more and would like to start relations for the specialty of Shiratamako Island.”

“Makes sense. Do we get any benefits or just paid out flat?”

Despite the King’s occasional childish sprees there was a reason Fiadh had assisted this goofy man to ascend the throne. He was a very good businessman.

“Katakuri, would you like to explain that aspect? I believe you would know even more than me.”

“Ah, sure. You would come under Big Mom’s protection as a business partner, however, unless you wish for it we will not directly tie you to us. If we did you would most likely use rights to Reverie or be persecuted by the World Government at some point as you are not directly in our territory. Part of what Fiadh is here for. She will act as the mediator of sorts, as I’m sure you’ve done business with her before like this, it will better protect you from any harm.”

Fiadh was shocked. That was the first time she had heard Katakuri talk that much and it was quite eloquently spoken. She felt almost proud for some reason and it made her feel a slight thrill in her heart as she looked at the man’s stoic eyes.

“Sounds like a good deal to me. I will run it by the court system this evening and have a final answer for you in the morning. The only possible change is the cost, as sweet flour price has increased slightly.”

“Works for me. Thank you King Tamako. Pleasure as always.” Fiadh stood and slightly bowed to the man. 

This was why she was happy this was her first stop. King Tamako was swift and decisive with decisions and trusted Fiadh to not screw him over with this sort of deal. He was still cautious and would have everything double checked, but much more manageable than most business deals. Glancing towards Katakuri’s relieved face made her giggle at their shared sentiment. She was mildly impressed at how good she’s gotten at perceiving the enigma of a man’s emotions. 

Meanwhile Katakuri felt that warm tingle in his chest grow and he noticed this happened everytime Fiadh was staring at him. He was surprised how little he minded the open staring, though he can’t judge as he had done his fair share that morning while she was staring off into nothingness. 

The two were escorted by two maids to where they would be staying for the night and Katakuri was both happy and disturbed that their rooms were right next to one another. They were also informed that dinner would be held in four hours and that they were welcome to wander around. 

Fiadh told Katakuri to get her and they could go to dinner together before walking into her room and falling face first onto the bed. She hadn’t slept well so a nap was a must at this point. Both the King and Princess of Shiratamako were exhausting to deal with for Fiadh. The woman hadn’t even thought to lock her door before passing out, dead to the world around her.

Later on Katakuri found himself at Fiadh’s door listening for any sound of life from the room. He decided to just knock as she said he should, and so his knuckles wrapped loudly against the solid wood door. There was no noise from within the room. Katakuri began to wonder if she left without him, and called out while knocking again.

Again there was no response and Katakuri felt himself feel a rush of irritation through his body. He grabbed the door handle and tested it. It wasn’t locked? What?

“Fiadh! It’s time for dinner!” Katakuri called again while knocking harder. Still nothing, now he was getting worried.

The tall man didn’t know what to do with this situation and began pacing outside of the room while keeping a sharp ear out for any noise. After a few minutes his heart was pounding and he decided to just face the consequences of his actions. His heart couldn’t take this kind of crushing stress any longer, so he opened the door slowly and peered into the room.

The room was dark save for late evening light peaking through the tall windows, but he couldn’t make out much. He saw a lump on the large bed and assumed it was Fiadh but he couldn’t even hear breathing coming from her and his worries increased exponentially. He walked slowly into the room and while at an acceptable distance called out again at full volume hoping it would wake her. There was no reaction.

Katakuri then sighed in frustration and approached the bed apprehensively. Once beside the bed near the lump he peered down to discern any signs of life. A tuft of shockingly red hair was the first thing he noticed, most of her body was covered in a heavy blanket, and the second thing he noted was her scar. 

She was lying curled up on her right side, and he could clearly look at her scar. Of course he had noticed it before but never allowed himself to stare like this, as it would be rude. It was clearly old, but was clearly a severe wound. He had seen that it carried down her arm to her wrist and he wondered where, why, how and so many other things. All of which he felt he had no right to ask if he wasn’t also willing to answer equally intrusive questions.

He could now hear barely noticeable shallow breaths coming from the woman and he released a sigh of pure relief. Any anger from before dissipated all at once. A warmth filled his chest and he felt himself begin to smile as he continued to openly stare at the woman. It was fascinating how this weird, irritating, extroverted woman had so thoroughly taken root in his thoughts every waking day. He both despised it and craved it.

Suddenly Fiadh seemed to stir as though she picked up his stare and began shuffling around to turn onto her other side. Katakuri decided to call out again but this time quieter. The reaction was immediate and shocking. The fiery haired woman moved with lightning speed and immense flexibility. Her legs kicked forcefully off the bed and her arms reached out putting him into a perfect armbar choke hold. She was clearly NOT awake so Katakuri held still like a statue and didn’t say anything until the woman came to her senses. 

His scarf was mildly disturbed by the arm around his neck but Katakuri didn’t notice as the shorter woman suddenly gasped and dropped to the floor.

“What the fuck Katakuri!”

“Um…” the tall man turned towards her looking bashfully at the floor and anywhere but her, “You wouldn’t wake up and it freaked me out a little bit.”

“Oh…” Fiadh’s face turned bright red in embarrassment as she took in his face. 

Fia was embarrassed at both her reaction and the sudden increase in the part of her face she could see. She could see the top of some stitches and scars on his cheeks and almost the tip of his nose. While the woman could tell before, now it was confirmed, he definitely has an attractive face. A pleasant thrum took hold of her entire body, head to toe, the strongest point being her right shoulder blade. It was almost as though her mark was trying to help confirm her thoughts and feelings in the one way it could. It made her giggle at her childish thoughts.

Katakuri noticed Fiadh’s stare and how warm it seemed, it made his heart beat pick up again and the grin to return. His grin made him notice that his scarf was further down than normal and he pushed it back into place. Then it sunk in. She had seen part of his stitches and had looked at him with that warmth… Maybe she wouldn’t mind. The woman didn’t leave him much time to overthink it as she began talking again.

“I’m so sorry I attacked you. I don’t normally react like that to being woken up…” Now it was Fiadh’s turn to look away, “Just had some bad dreams.”

“No worries. Same shit happens to me.” Katakuri felt that warm tingling again as he felt a connection of some sort forming.

Fiadh looked up surprised and gave the man one of her renown grins while saying, “Glad you’re so understanding. I’m sorry regardless! Just let me know if you ever want a favor or something in return or else I’ll feel bad…”

“Hm… food.”

“Food?”

“Yea, I really like your food…”

Fiadh felt herself flush an even brighter red, “Well that’s easy! Just let me know what and when.” She seemed to think about something for a second before saying, “Honestly I’m fine cooking for you whenever. You always eat it with gusto and it reminds me of an old friend!” She smiled sadly up at him, but it was a true smile.

Katakuri’s eyes went wide in shock and a course of happiness took hold of his heart. He hadn’t felt so giddy in years. No idea how to respond, he just nodded excitedly and wondered if this moment was real and not just one of his odd dreams…

“Hahah! Alright, you were getting me for dinner right?”

“Yea.”

“Well, let’s go! I’m starving now that I’m awake.”

The two went side by side down the halls of the castle with Fiadh chatting excitedly about foods she wanted to make. Katakuri even chimed in some donut ideas which made the woman light up even more. He could get used to this. If the whole trip was just like this he might not be able to let the woman go… 

‘Oh no… I’m becoming my mother.’ Katakuri thinks to himself, with a chill racking his whole body.

**_____________**

The dinner had passed quickly, Katakuri hadn’t talked at all. Fiadh had her ear talked off by the King and Princess. The Queen was the only one who seemed calm and poised, she continually sent Fia sympathetic stares too. On both the royals hands a visible black mark could be seen of a star, it caught Katakuri’s eye and he wondered how these two polar opposites were fated matches. He was also very tempted to ask about it, yet couldn’t muster the courage due to Fia’s presence and the thought she might also know. 

Fiadh seemed to be taking it all in stride and somehow managed to shake both Princess and King before heading back to her room. A feat that Katakuri wanted to pick up, it would be useful against his siblings for sure. She always amazed him in some way, her professionalism was definitely unmatched in this situation. He wondered where that was when she was dealing with the older Charlottes.

Fiadh sighed heartedly, “Well… At least no work or politics came into dinner!”

Katakuri grunted out an affirmation with a smirk on his face.

“Hm… though they did cover about everything else. They’re all so chatty.” Fiadh giggled to herself and looked up at Katakuri saying, “Though I’m chatty as hell compared to you, so I can’t really judge!”

“Mhm, I’m the odd one. Don’t worry about it.” Katakuri made eye contact with the woman and found himself almost ruffling Fiadh’s hair. His hand froze half raised and his eyes turned into saucers.

“You can pat my head, I know I’m shorter than you so it’s tempting.” Fiadh understood as she did the same thing. She cackled and said, “Wow… I’m the shorter one! This never happens.”

Katakuri patted her head after getting permission, and immediately worried that he’d become addicted… Her hair was soft and well taken care of. She seemed pleased by it as well as she softly hummed at the contact. It reminded him of a bird.

“Just tell me to stop if it gets annoying.”

“Hmm… That won’t happen, but okay!” Fiadh looked up at the man and noticed his flaming red ears and suddenly felt embarrassed herself. Why had she just accepted this man’s touch so casually? That was not normal for her. Oh well.

They arrived at their rooms and parted with a quick good night. Fiadh went and sat cross legged into a comfy chair in the room and decided to contemplate the day. She liked to meditate when she has overly busy days like this. A day that had started off so cold and full of an old ache of hurt was turned completely around by an awkward giant of a man. 

He seemed surprisingly accepting and didn’t even bat an eye at her weird outburst. However, she’s seen his family so parts made sense. Speaking of she still hadn’t gotten anything from the mirror from Brulee… Maybe Den Den Mushi would be better? She needed some girl advice, pronto. 

Fiadh sat for another hour digesting all her emotions from the day, even the bitter ones, until her mind was blank and at ease. Then she went to bed hoping this job would continue to go smoothly so they could be on their way. She needed to start looking over the next stop with Katakuri when they left as it wasn’t going to be as easy. 

Their next destination is Oka who’s name was quite misleading to what it exported, but visually it was fitting. It is an island covered in cherry blossoms and nothing more than rolling hills, they exported mostly silks and a special milk from an animal bred with the assistance of Vegapunk. Fia really wasn’t sure the details on that part but the milk was amazing and desired by almost everyone in the world with some extra beli. It would have been impossible for the Big Mom pirates to even get a meeting with the delegates of Oka without Fiadh’s help.

**_____________**

That same night Katakuri did not do what Fia did and instead sat wide awake in bed. He reached up and traced his stitches with a fingertip as his mind raced. Refusing to actually acknowledge the nonsensical fears and worries he instead focused in on Fia’s smile and warm eyes while looking up at him. Her verbal permission to let him touch her head, and even willingness to cook for him. It all was overwhelming and suffocating, but not in a bad way.

He felt his face heat up as his mind turned to less appropriate thoughts and had to physically shake his head. The mark on his shoulder felt scorching hot as his imagination seemed to set it off. Sitting up he got out of bed and went to take a freezing shower.

‘This woman is going to be the death of me…’

Even he could not deny that his worries were holding less power over him and his comfort with Fiadh increased day by day. Maybe Branwen is onto something...


	8. Jealous Katakuri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Fiadh's deal with King Tamako make it through the court system? Why is Katakuri so jealous?
> 
> Also Princess Tama is a brat and Fia loves her~

Fiadh woke up with the sun as she normally did and rolled out to quickly make herself presentable. She planned to catch the old geezers that made up the court system for this country. A flurry of knocks on her door jolted her out of her inner thoughts. Her brain had been mulling over a variety of thoughts all morning switching from Katakuri, to Law, to how to get in contact with Brulee, and then back to the next island of Oka. Oka was going to be a tough deal to strike, but she knew she could do it.

“Who is it?” Fia called.

A flurry of excited giggles came from the door before a childish, “Guess!”

Fiadh smirked, and also let out a sigh of defeat, “Hmm… I don’t know. Maybe a secret admirer?”

“I mean… Yes?” More high pitched giggles then, “But not quite!”

“Ohh, would this happen to be a certain princess I know?”

“Noooo…” 

Fiadh finished tying up her hair before walking over to her door and pulling it open with a patient smile. “I was right!” She called victoriously.

“Ahh!” The princess was in a white flowy, nightgown and her eyes went wide as she turned to dash away.

Fiadh moved faster and swept the princess off her feet and carried her down the hall.

“I win! Where are we going, my fair lady?” Fiadh always played the role of a dutiful knight for princess Tama.

“Breakfast!”

“Ahh, so that’s why you came and got me. Should we invite Katakuri to join us?”

“Hmmm, no! I want Fia-sama to myself…”

Fiadh laughed a bit but consented and carried the possessive princess off to the dining hall. It was decorated well, with beautiful flowers, and silver cutlery. Setting the princess down by the table Fiadh dutifully pulled out a chair and lavishly bowed then pushed the girl in. The woman had more than enough patience for playing these games with the girl as she only saw her once a year if that. 

“This is why Fia-sama is the best.” Mumbled the princess to which Fiadh chuckled at as she sat herself across the young girl.

“What would you like to eat today?”

“Something sweet!”

“Ah, I see some things don’t change.” Fiadh looked at the girl in mirth before turning to a maid that had come out to take their breakfast orders. “Please bring us some pancakes with syrup, fresh fruit, and some bacon. Also, bring a plate of assorted donuts please. Thank you.”

The servant rushed off as the princess squealed in excitement. Even though she regularly ate similar food for breakfast the princess was always equally excited for food especially with Fiadh present. Despite her best efforts to not get distracted from the princess she still found her mind wandering to what she was mulling over earlier in the morning.

“Fia-samaaa!” Whined the childish girl.

“Yes Tama?”

“You’re ignoring me…” She looked down at her hands dejected.

“I’m sorry, it’s not on purpose I’ve just been rather busy. Why don’t we go outside and play to make up for it?” Fiadh made a mental note to only play for an hour and then go look for the counsel geezers.

“Okay!” The girl immediately lit up with a smile.

Though she was irritatingly immature at time Fiadh understood it was from a lack of attention from her parents. Though the King and Queen loved their daughter and spoiled her to bits, they were also very busy running a country they had gotten in shambles. 

Fiadh didn’t mind giving the princess the attention a girl her age needed even if her whining did give her a headache. She still remembered holding the girl as a baby and how she never cried despite her scar and intimidating features. One of many reasons she was eternally endeared to the young princess. Another being her kind heart and love for the people of Shiratamako Island. 

A butler cleared his voice loudly before announcing, “Your breakfast Princess, and honored guest.” He bowed and quickly pivoted to help the maids lay out the food.

“Thank you Grandpa-Tiko!” called the Princess to the silver haired butler. 

“Please enjoy my lady.” The butler bowed again and left with the maids.

The two enjoyed breakfast with idle chatter as the Princess complained about her busy parents, some neighboring country trying to marry their prince to her, and her father making her take up archery classes. Fiadh listened and nodded along letting the young girl vent and commenting suggestions on how to get out of classes. Fia thoroughly enjoyed sparking mischief in children.

After they finished they went outside and walked around the garden the King dedicated to his Queen after they had just gotten married. It was immaculate and the most lavish thing around the castle. There was a large array of flowers, trees, bushes, and hedges trimmed into the Queen’s favorite animals.

The princess tugged Fiadh around and brought her to an herb garden she had started with her mother.

“This is part of my classes!” the princess then began chattering off the names of the herbs and their purposes.

“That’s amazing! It’s good that you’re learning this, you’ll never know when it will come in handy.” Fiadh patted the girls head.

They continued wandering for a bit more and then went to a swing hanging from a large silver oak tree. Fiadh pushed the princess who sat on an elegant, engraved swing seat. After her time ran out Fiadh had to excuse herself despite Tama’s protests.

“I’m sure you’ll see me at dinner… Don’t you have classes you’ve been avoiding by staying with me?” Fiadh smirked and raised an eyebrow at the suddenly sheepish princess.

“Maybe… Okayyy! Fine, I'll go do my classes. Just make sure you come to dinner!”

“Deal.” Fiadh chuckled then headed back into the castle and off to find the counsel office.

**_____________**

“We can’t just jump into a deal with a Yonko!” bellowed a man with grey frizzy hair and a scruffy pepper and salt beard.

“The deal seems solid, Fiadh-sama made sure we would be safe from the government, and the money is good!” said an old woman with dull blonde hair, she emphasizes her point by slapping her hands onto a stack of paper.

“QUIET!” comes King Tamako’s bellow.

An oval table filled with six elders and five middle aged men and women turn to the King.

“Fighting over this does nothing for us. Now write your answers on your ballots and submit them as we always do. We’ve debated this enough.” at the King’s declaration there was a murmur of discontent yet everyone did as tasked.

After all their decisions had been put in the King counted it out and announced the decision drawn. Despite his ability to veto a decision he rarely ever used it which kept the peace within the island's judicial system. Just then a knock sounded throughout the room which made all heads turn to the door.

“Come in.” King Tamako called out, already knowing who it was.

In walks Fiadh with her book of information for the deal just in case and her neutral business facade on. 

“What was the outcome?” Fiadh said with a small smile.

The king sighed and looked down at the ballots in front of him in exasperation before saying, “In your favor of course… The change of sweet flour price is reflected in this document. Just have this signed and everything is set.”

Fiadh chuckled then turned to the people that made up the counsel and bowed, “Thank you all very much for agreeing to this. I promise to make it worth your votes.”

There was a ripple of them mumbling to her not to mention it or something of the sort.

With that she turned back to the King with a large grin and bowed to him once more while taking the document from him before turning and heading out. Once the door shut behind her Fiadh let out a big sigh and pumped her arms in the air in victory. Though she knew it would work she still loved the satisfaction when the final decision worked out.

The increase in sweet flour was actually something she had known about, but by using the older price they met her halfway and she got a reduced price. Deal making was always sweet for Fiadh, one of the most gratifying things in her job for her. Now all she had to do was get the document to Katakuri so he could look it over and sign it.

Fiadh went directly to Katakuri’s room and knocked on the door. There was no answer which made her question if he was still asleep. However, it was almost noon so that seemed unlikely. She knocked once more, but there was still no response.

Deciding to wander throughout the halls of the castle she ran into two maids carrying fresh linen down the hall towards the guest quarters.

“Hello, would either of you happen to know where Charlotte Katakuri went off to? He’s the other guest in this wing.”

“The tall man wearing a scarf?” After Fiadh nods in confirmation the maid says, “I saw him heading to the front of the castle about thirty minutes ago. Maybe he’s wandering through town?”

“Ugh… Thank you! Have a good day.” Mildly irritated Fiadh beelines out of the castle.

She couldn’t blame the man for wanting to explore, there’s nothing to do in the castle as guests so it is quite boring. Still it’s never fun getting stuck in a good chase with a pirate who might not want to be found.

**_____________**

Meanwhile, Katakuri was walking down the main street through town towards the docks. The man purposefully ignored the strange looks from the locals and the people shuffling away from him that clearly knew of him. He had woken up later than expected and had slept better than he had in quite a few months. All in all he couldn’t complain and felt well rested. Now he had to actually do his duties and check to make sure the ship was being prepared for their journey to the next stop.

He also made a mental note to sit down with Fiadh in the evening to discuss Oka in more detail. It seemed as though this visit was going as planned and he had called Momma that morning to check-in and let her know how everything was going. During that it had surprised him how irritated he had gotten at Big Mom’s continued questioning of Fiadh and dissection of everything he told her.

The docks came into site quickly as his long strides brought him there briskly. Once there he cleared his mind and focused on disseminating orders to his officers and getting inspecting the ship to make sure resupplying had been done properly. Everything looked perfectly done as he expected, but he knew better than to get lax with these check-ups when it comes to a pirate ship.

Everything was wrapped up quicker than expected so he headed out to explore. His last orders were to give all the crew the next day off and only to a small rotation of guards onboard so everyone could get a proper break and unwind one last time. He saw how his crew lit up and smirked to himself before heading towards some shops that had peaked his interest.

**_____________**

Fiadh had left the castle and begun her search, however, she didn’t take it too seriously and allowed herself to get distracted easily. She perused various grocery shops and was pleased to see reasonable prices for everything. Then she wandered through a weapons shop looking for some replacement needles for her cuff. 

The owner was an old man who immediately recognized her and demanded she let him custom make some. After fighting with the geezer for a while she gave in and just told him to have it sent to the castle when done. She also warned him she would be leaving soon, but he promised it would be done by nightfall. Fia left the cuff with the man so he could more easily do his work and she headed out.

Next she just strolled down streets looking at other shops, enjoying the sounds of happy people, and the view of prosperous houses. She then headed a ways out to the outskirts of town where an intense slum used to be. She was greeted by smaller but well taken care of houses. Fia also spotted quite a few small churches, what looked like an orphanage, and multiple stands with banners announcing it as free for the impoverished.

It warmed her to see how different it all was, and it proved just how much King Tamako has done for his people. Hopefully this would continue with his daughter. Fiadh looked at the intense farmland that existed out past the city. There were other towns on the island, but many well off farmers also have a shop, or a weekend/vacation house in the main city. 

The nobles of Shiratamako were all honest farmers, and though wealthy none were truly greedy. King Tamako truly set the example for that structure. All of the council members were voted for by the people, and few were nobles with any title. Most were just trusted members of society or elders from towns in other parts of the island.

After a while Fiadh grew bored of aimlessly wandering so she headed back to the castle. On the way back to the main street she spots Captain Roti clearly patrolling the streets. He stands out due to his height, which rivals her own. They both made eye contact so Fiadh decided to call out to him.

“Captain!” Fia calls out with a grin and a wave.

The older man comes to a quick salute and responds, “Miss Fiadh, what can I do for you?”

“Ah, quit with the stiff shit. Are you patrolling?”

Roti made a confused face then responded, “Yes ma’am…”

“Hm, well I’m bored and have been left to my own devices.” 

“That sounds dangerous.” He had clearly said it without much thought and looked as shocked as Fiadh.

Fiadh broke out cackling and choked out, “Wow, you got me there!”

The captain shifted uncertainly and seemed to be begging someone to start some comotion so he could escape. Fiadh picked up on this and let the guard wander off again with a wave. As she turned to walk up the street she saw a tuft of crimson hair above the crowd.

“Found ya!” Fiadh mumbled to herself before sprinting off in chase.

She quickly caught up and Katakuri’s hulking form came into view. Fia visibly saw his shoulders tense as he heard her running footsteps. Before he could turn around she wrapped her limbs around his right arm and bellowed out a victory yell.

“Gotcha!”

Katakuri stopped a fist inches from her head and relaxed his left arm with an exasperated sigh.

“Why… did you feel the need to do that..?” Fiadh could hear the irritation dripping from the man’s words.

The grown woman sheepishly responded, “I’m bored, and I’ve been looking for you for a while.”

“Ugh. You’re going to be the death of me woman.” Katakuri massaged between his eyes in frustration, and after his anger subsided he became increasingly aware that Fiadh had yet to release his arm. 

His ears began to heat up as he felt the woman clutching his arm to her chest and the way her clear grey eyes looked up at him almost innocently. However, clearly she was far from innocent. She was a devious woman, eternally up to no good when bored. Fiadh was gauging the man’s response and becoming increasingly entertained by his reactions.

“Why were you looking for me?” Katakuri asks, trying to divert the conversation and his own mind.

“Oh! I need you to look over and sign the document containing the counsels agreement they made this morning.” Fiadh thought about letting go of Katakuri’s arm, but instead she loosened her grip and instead hooked their arms together. She relished in the man’s uncomfortable posture and his crimson ears.

“Ah… I’ll look it over once I go back to the castle.” Katakuri is looking everywhere but at Fiadh. Part of him wants to yank his arm back, but his body won’t move to do so.

“Alright! I’m heading back now. When do you think you’ll be back?” Fiadh looks far too pleased with herself.

“Before dinner.”

“Okay.” Fiadh releases his arm and waves to the man before walking back towards the castle with a cheeky grin. She was thoroughly content with herself for being able to get under the man’s skin so easily.

Though neither would admit it they both enjoyed how pleasant the contact was and wouldn’t complain if it were to happen again. Fiadh had been embarrassed with her childish outburst at first, but she quickly came to terms that she was just getting increasingly comfortable around Katakuri. It was slightly scary to her just how comfortable she was, but never one to think too much on such things she moved on from it.

Once she was back at the castle she went to her room to get some business done. In just an hours time the woman had gotten part of Law’s plan in motion, solidified part of Oka’s deal through some Noblemen, and now she was calling Brulee. She felt content with how much she had achieved but the ringing without any answer was starting to frustrate her. Brulee had promised to talk frequently yet it had almost been a week with no contact.

Deciding a different tactic Fiadh called Aladdin’s personal DenDen. After just a few rings there was an answer.

“Hello?” Came a confused Aladdin.

“Hey, it’s Fia”

“Fia-sama! Why’re you calling?”

“Is Praline around by any chance?”

“Right here Fia~!”

Praline clearly was never far from Aladdin’s side just as Faidh had guessed.

“Hi, Praline! How’re you?”

“I’m perfectly fine, what can I do for Fia-sama?”

Right to business just as Fiadh had hoped, “Would you happen to know what Brulee is up to? She hasn’t gotten in contact with me as planned..”

“Oh, that’s odd. I have no clue, I’ll ask my older sister and see if she knows anything.”

“Alright. Thank you, sorry for disturbing you two. Please give me a call if you get any news!”

“Of course Fia-sama! Stay safe, we’ll be in contact soon.”

“Ga-cha”

Fia released a sigh. She was becoming increasingly concerned for Brulee. The woman wasn’t the type to not hold up a promise so something must have happened. Hopefully she’d hear back soon and it’ll just be that she was busy or something of the sort.

A knock at her door drew her out of her worries.

“Who is it?”

“Katakuri”

“Oh, come in.” Fiadh’s lack of her usual energy immediately was noticed.

Katakuri stepped into the room and immediately said, “What’s wrong?”

Fiadh couldn’t help the look of shock at the man’s question. He has so easily picked up on her change in mood, and even asked about it. This wasn’t something she was accustomed to at all.

“Ah, I’m just worrying about Brulee right now…”

The man instantly looked tense, “Did something happen?”

“Not that I know of. She just hasn’t kept her promise of talking with me so I’m slightly concerned is all. I just called Praline and she’s going to check for me.”

“Oh…” Katakuri looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back at Fiadh and saying, “You really care about my sister, huh?”

“Of course! She’s my friend, good ones are hard to come by in this world. Especially in the kind of business I’m in.”

“That’s fair. You know what family she’s from though. Yet you still care about her enough to be this worried?” Katakuri’s disbelief floored Fiadh.

“Katakuri, a person’s family does not define them. What defines them is their character and their actions.” Fiadh gave her signature grin before saying, “And I say Brulee is one hell of a person! Of course I’m going to care if she disappears like this.”

Katakuri just stared at the woman for a moment trying to digest her words before responding. He still couldn’t quite understand this fearless woman’s point of view on life. All he’d ever known were people shying away from him for his face, his family, his reputation, and even just his height. Yet here was someone who clearly stated she didn’t give a shit about any of that.

“Anyway, I’ll be sure to let you know whenever Praline gets back to me. Here’s the document feel free to take your time looking over it and just let me know if you have any questions.”

Simply nodding his head Katakuri wandered over to the chair in the room and sat down staring at the document without really reading it. The sound of a Den Den Mushi ringing brings his attention back to the room. Fiadh answers it with a loud huff.

“Not a good time kiddo.”

“Ugh, don’t call me kiddo old lady.” came a young man’s voice.

Katakuri’s interest was instantly piqued by this odd exchange.

“Don’t be rude brat! I’ll call you back later tonight, can’t talk right now.”

“Ugh, fine.” came an irritated, huffy response.

“Bye, brat!” Fiadh said before quickly hanging up.

Katakuri couldn’t figure out what was going on here, but he clearly saw Fiadh’s soft smile and clearly loving face. It instantly caused a spike of pain in his chest as it was clear just how much she cared for whoever was on the other side of the line. Clearly it was a private conversation that Fiadh couldn’t have with him in the room so he didn’t ask. Instead he focused on the document in front of him actually reading it.

“Sorry, that was a kid I’m sponsoring. His timing is eternally the worst.” Fiadh said with a grin.

Katakuri couldn’t tell if this was the truth or not but he simply nodded his head and dismissed it. Wasn’t his place to ask her about it anyway. 

The man quickly read through the document and signed it. He’d have to call Mama again to let her know everything was settled. Handing it back to Fiadh he quickly went back to his room.

Later at dinner Katakuri was still acting odd and Fiadh asked him if everything was okay which he repeatedly dismissed. During dinner Fiadh had her hands full with the ever needy princess and the King trying to be a jokester. After getting the document to the King he had completely loosened up and was back to his goofy self. Overall it passed uneventfully and Fiadh appreciated how light and comfortable the conversation was overall. Though the sulking Katakuri was clearly noticeable.

The Queen and King took off after dinner with their daughter to go for a walk. Princess Tama had wanted to cling to Fiadh again but luckily her parents satched her up before that could happen.

After dinner she offered to make him a dessert that even his bad mood wouldn’t let him turn down. Once in the kitchen Fiadh relentlessly prodded about the man’s odd behavior. Though cooking for him was payback for almost hurting him, she was also very nosey.

“You’re clearly not acting normal Katakuri… Will you please tell me what’s bugging you?”

“I don’t know how to explain it because it is quite stupid.” Katakuri felt like a bratty child again and hated how he couldn’t even pretend to be normal with Fiadh.

“I don’t care! Just tell me.”

“Your call earlier, for some reason it bugged me. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Fiadh looked quite confused for a moment then said, “The one with my kiddo?”

“Your kid??”

“Yea, the one that called while you were reading the document?”

“Yes…”

“That was my adopted son. Though he hates being treated like that, so I say I’m just sponsoring him.”

“Oh.” Katakuri instantly felt embarrassed. 

He felt his whole body heat up in embarrassment and he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with the woman. He had been jealous… of her son. The man knew he didn’t even have the right to feel jealous. Even if the woman knew they were a fated pair that didn’t mean she had to return his feelings. He wasn’t even completely sure what he felt, besides comfortable and happy around Fia.

“Why was that making you upset?” Fia looked genuinely confused and concerned which made the man feel guilty.

“Don’t worry about it… it was stupid.”

“Nothing that bothers you that much is stupid.” Fiadh says firmly.

“Just… Please drop it for now.” Katakuri’s eyes seemed to plead her to give it up for now so the woman did.

“Alright, sorry for prying. I’m making donuts by the way!” Fiadh grinned as she swiftly began moving around the kitchen to get the baking going.

The deserts were as amazing as ever, Katakuri completely destroyed the donuts Fia baked. Fia loved watching the Sweet Commander demolish the sweets as it filled her with joy and pride. It’s always satisfying when people enjoy your food but she found it especially pleasing when he enjoyed them so much.

**_____________**

That evening Katakuri went to bed content with sweets that satisfied his unbearable sweet tooth created just for Fiadh’s cooking. However, he was kept up mulling over his thoughts yet again. He couldn’t quite wrap his brain around why Fiadh was the way she was, and how she just didn’t fit into any category of person he has ever met before. Eventually he passed out and did surprisingly sleep restfully. 

Fiadh was kept up on the phone with Law trying to help the boy with his plan, and also told him about the odd interaction with Katakuri. The boy seemed very disturbed by this, but then cackled when Fiadh mentioned he was her fated match. The dense woman was then informed why Katakuri had acted that way around her. 

“Fia-ya, he was jealous of me.” came Law’s mocking voice.

The man had been jealous… of her kid. Even Fiadh had to laugh at that one, but she let it go. At least she knew he had some feelings towards her. She went to bed with a smile on her face and slept quite well. This awkward, dense, klutz of a man was surprisingly endearing to Fiadh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when the next update will be, but I hope you all enjoy this quick update! Apologize for any typos, and all feedback is appreciated. This chapter is shorter because it's wrapping up the Shiratamako Island arc.


	9. Canines Beware

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh is faced with a new kind of patient, one she's never had before, yet has to succeed in saving. The next stop Oka is fast coming as the Shiratamako Island arc closes. Fia has lots of work ahead of her, but she'll face everything head on as always!   
> But why has no one heard from Brulee? What could possibly be going on back at Cake Island??

That night Fiadh had dreams of her crew during their heyday and many of their happiest moments together. Flashes of golden blonde hair, scarred tan arms, and the scent of sea salt mixed with baked sweets. She woke up with a hollow feeling in her heart from the very bittersweet dreams. Fiadh was well aware this was brought on from that uncomfortable feeling of another person caring for her and asking about her wellbeing. It clearly led to her subconscious to go back to the last time someone had done the same.

Before anyone else could come find her first she got up to go for a run. She left a note on her bedroom door saying she’d be back and headed out of the castle in shorts and a tank top. Fia began her jog the second she exited the courtyard and went down the mainstreet to the docks. She felt a need to smell the sea.

This ache to have the sea in view made her scar burn. She felt the intense need to itch it, but refrained as she focused back in on the steady beating of her feet and ache in her muscles. While she hadn’t had one of the bad dreams per say Fia still hurt after any memory of her old crew. One would think after so many years the pain would pass, but it never truly leaves you it just slowly dulls.

They had been a small but happy crew. The Grand Line had been a breeze for them and their starry eyed captain had big dreams of being the Pirate King. Sadly life had a different plan for them all. Fiadh had known her crew wasn’t ready for the New World yet hadn’t done much of anything to stop them. This was part of what dragged on her conscience every time she thought of her old crew.

Maybe one day she will be able to truly come to terms with it all, but today was not that day. Fiadh released a sigh of relief as the scent of the ocean hit her like a tidal wave. Despite it still being out of site, her keen sense of scent had already picked up on its presence. It instantly gave her a sense of calm and cleared her mind. She kept a steady long stride as the slight hum of the city coming to life could be heard around her.

The masts could be seen over the rooftops and Fiadh felt great anticipation at seeing the swath of blue ahead. Even after just a few days the woman would always feel the call of the sea and the itch under her skin. Once you listen to her call, she will always demand your return.

Unbeknownst to her, another sailor of the seas had the same call that morning. They both almost ended up barreling into each other headfirst. Fiadh had been so focused on getting the sea in sight she had hardly paid any mind to her surroundings. A flash of crimson red was all she saw before two strong arms held her at arm's length. Fiadh’s grey eyes went wide in shock as she focused in on an equally shocked Katakuri.

“Sorry” was all Fia could get out dumbly.

She then noticed Katakuri’s arms still holding her and started to flush. Her conversation with Law still fresh in her mind, she didn’t realize just how awkward she would feel around the man now. All worries and sour feelings from her dream were completely washed away with a warm feeling and a rush of embarrassment. 

Katakuri was equally shocked and confused by Fiadh’s sudden appearance. Her ability to come up undetected still was a mystery to him, but in this moment he couldn’t even be upset as it gave him an excuse to be this close to her. Shit… He was holding onto her still. He awkwardly slid his hands down Fiadh’s arm and back to his side.

“Uh… No problem.”

“G’morning, sorry again. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Fia awkwardly tried to laugh it off as a tingle ran down her arms where he had just touched, and distinctly felt her mark warm up as if please.

“Where are you headed in such a rush?” His little head tilt and raised eyebrow instantly drew Fiadh’s attention. 

“Ah, I was out for a run to clear my head…” Fia couldn’t help but remember the reason she was running and grew slightly morose. Though Katakuri’s presence seemed to stay off any true negative emotions.

“Oh…” Katakuri wasn’t used to handling these kinds of situations and had no idea how to communicate with Fia in this moment. “Uh, did you want to meet up tonight to prepare for our next stop Oka? Or should we wait? It’s not far from here but we’ll still have a few days onboard.” He quickly realized in his concern for Fiadh’s mood change he had spoken an unnecessary amount and got rather flustered. 

Fia quickly realized the man was trying to change the subject and offer her a distraction. It was honestly very touching to her and far more helpful than him prying into her wounds.

“Yea, we can meet up tonight after I deal with King Tamako and Princess Tama. They both wanted to spend some time with me before we leave. I believe the princess also has an animal she wants me to do a checkup on…” Fia quickly realized she was rattling on about useless information to a man that liked getting straight to the point and amended, “We can meet up after sunset! I’ll be sure to escape by then.”

“Sounds good.” Katakuri had honestly not minded her prattling on and was thoroughly surprised he didn’t find her annoying for it. He usually had low tolerance for such things, but as he was quickly realizing she would be an exception to this. Honestly he was more interested in the fact she was going to check on an animal, he assumed she was just a food inspector.

“Alright! I’ll see you then. Sorry again for trying to run you over.”

“See you.” 

Fiadh continued her run with a smile on her face, and when the sea came into view she felt more relief and peace than she had felt in quite some time. Maybe next time she had a nightmare she’d ask Katakuri to tag along… She liked the effect he had on her mood.

**_____________**

Most of the day Fiadh was able to work on paperwork, some for Law, some for the next stop in her trip. Then early evening princess Tama came to find her to come check on her pet that was injured and acting odd. Fia wasn’t certain exactly what the issue was as the young girl wouldn’t give her a thorough or straight answer, so she brought a wide variety of instruments that could be helpful in her animal care bag.

Fiadh wore casual comfortable clothes that she didn’t mind getting dirty. This consisted of stretchy jeans, her tall boots, a dark green sash, and a black tank top. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail and her scar shone bright on her face in the evening early afternoon light. Once upon a time she had cared about hiding her scar and felt shame from it. That time was long past, since she had come to love it and found it as a symbol of strength and her growth in life. While she had not fully healed her heart past the time it had happened, she had come to love and accept it.

On the way out of the castle Fiadh realized they were heading to the stables which were quite a ways away and rarely visited save for some stable hands. Even from a distance Fia could hear the bustle of animals, a few clearly horses, and a few she wasn’t sure of quite yet but they seemed like canines. Fia remembered back when she got her first ever pet from her mother, a black puppy that ended up being a terror to the small family. This was also the simplest point in Fiadh’s life and one she wishes she could return to. Even just having a place to return to would be enough, but in her life that was too much to ask for.

The young princess, as always, was talking a mile a minute yet Fia picked up on her odd behavior instantly. There was a reason the young girl wasn’t giving her all the details like she normally would. She was hiding something from her parents, and probably everyone except Fiadh now.

“So… Princess, mind telling me what exactly I’m going to be treating?” Fiadh asks this with a coy smirk as they quickly near the stables.

“Um…” The princess’ guilty demeanor instantly gives her away as she avoids all eye contact with Fia and stares at the ground.

“Hm… I guess I should go ask King Tamako to come with us later tonight when we do another checkup.”

“NO! Not my father!”

“Oh? And why not? Care to explain?” Fia did her best to keep her shit eating grin under wraps and failed royally but the young girl didn’t even notice in her panic.

“Um… I… Uh… You have to keep it between us!” Princess Tama looked up, clearly upset but filled with stubborn pride.

“Of course princess.” Fia did a shallow bow to the girl before saying, “I am at your service.”

“Good.” Princess Tama quickly looked around before motioning Fia to come closer to whisper, “I found a strange animal in the woods the week before you arrived. I couldn’t tell anyone about it because it might get killed by dad! Please save him for me, his injuries won’t heal no matter what I do.” 

The young girl was in tears by the end so Fiadh held out her pinky finger while patting her head with her scarred hand.

“It’s a promise princess!” Fia grinned confidently and as the small finger intertwined with hers she lightly shook it then stood up.

At the door of the stables Fia could clearly hear some snuffling and weak whining from within. When Fia reached for the large stable door the princess stopped her to do it herself. 

As the door glided on the smooth tracks Fia took notice of the well lit, clean barn with large stalls lining both sides. She also noticed the large horses that looked purely decorative in their body conformation, as well as a medium-sized, feathered beast in another stall, however, the whining and labored breaths came from the back of the stables out of sight. 

The young princess grabbed Fia by the hand and dragged her quickly towards where the sound was coming from.

“He’s right over here! Please help him quickly Fia-san…”

Fia stumbled after the Princess trying not to step on her or her dress, as they rounded the last stall wall she couldn’t help but sharply inhale. There a massive black hound laid. It wasn’t a typical canine, it looked as though it had a tail of a lion, and sharp pointed ears with small black horns peeking behind them. There was also matted, blood stained, heavy fur running from under his head down his chest. Even from a distance she could see the deep gouges on the extremities, head, and torso that seemed to be caused by a whip and a dull blade.

Whatever had happened to this animal it was clear abuse. Fia could feel the princess’ tremors as she panicked over the state of the beast. Taking the hand not being held Fia covered the young girls eyes and coaxed her to the other side of the wall. 

Sitting her down Fia said, “I’ll take care of him. He’ll be fine princess. Wait here until I’m done, can you do that?”

The girl just nodded her head before burrowing her head into her arms. Fia ruffled the girl's hair then stood up to quickly get to her patient.

The first thing she worked on was wound tracing. Fia’s nimble fingers brushed through the fur, avoiding the clearly stained bits, and identified the open wounds actively bleeding. She pulled a clotting agent out of her bag while taking a blood sample and placing it to the side to find the blood type for a blood transfusion. Then she rapidly bandaged the extremities after ensuring the wounds had clotted. 

Fia then took out an IV fluid bag from her bag and pinned it high on the stall wall. Checking the canines gums to see just how dehydrated they are, she decided it’d probably require the entire bag. Using a medium needle she inserted it subcutaneously and let the fluids to it’s thing. She also gave a 1,000mg meloxicam, a painkiller, as the beast was easily over 200lbs. 

After taking out her handheld flashlight she opened the canine's eyes to see that they were very oddly shaped and looked almost goat-like yet the pupils were sharp like a cat when the light was shined on them. However, the reaction proved the brains responsiveness so she looked in the ears to see that there were clear mite infection. In total the animal was very abused and neglected and she figured it would take a few months of continuous care to get him back into shape.

Her blood test came back as DEA -1.1 meaning she had to give him exactly that blood, despite all the confusing extremities she was glad the blood was canine as that was something she always had on hand. Taking out the appropriately labeled bag that had been in an insulated pocket in her bag she quickly set up the transfusion as the beast began to shake. This almost seizure-like reaction did not surprise Fia as the canine’s body went into shock as most of the injuries caught up with him. 

“Shhh, it’s okay. Deep breaths. I’m here to help, not gonna hurt you.” Fia gently stroked along the spine of the canine as she spoke softly in a calm voice. 

Even if an animal can’t understand the words themselves they can always pick up on a person’s tone. Whether it was her voice or exhaustion the beast took a deep shuddering breath before calming. The shaking stopped, the tensed muscles relaxed, and he began breathing smoother. Seemed the pain meds and everything else finally kicked in.

Fia looked over the body again and all the wounds seemed to be staying clotted, the bandages had no sign of red yet, but she expected that to change once the animal woke up. Standing up for the first time in a while, Fia stretched and from the ache in her joints she assumed she’d been working diligently for at least a few hours. 

Walking over to where she left the princess she found her sleeping soundly with slightly puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. Sighing Fia gently shook the princess awake with a cheerful smile.

“Hey, he’ll be fine princess Tama.”

Bleary eyed it took her a minute to catch up with the words said but she burst out with clearly happy tears and lurched at Fia for a hug.

“Heyyy, we’re not completely in the clear yet! Relax!” Fia chuckled while gently hugging the young girl back.

“S-so… He’ll be okay?”

“Yes. However, he needs more care princess… You’re going to have to tell someone about him so someone else can continue his care. I have to leave tomorrow to continue my job.” Fia said this with a gentle smile, but she could see the princess’ face quickly contort in fear.

“I-I can’t… You’ve seen him Fia! You know father won’t like him or let him stay out of fear…”

“Hm… You have a point. King Tama doesn’t let any potentially dangerous beasts reside here.” Fia thought over this ruling, it was for the citizens' safety. Despite living in the New World and having a fairly powerful military the average citizen was not strong at all. “Well princess this is your call. I can try and bring him with my for continued care, but you are the one who found him so he’s your responsibility.”

The princess didn’t seem too keen on this idea either, maybe due to Big Mom pirates Fia traveled with or a want to keep the beast for some reason Fia did not know. However, eventually she nodded her head.

“Yea. He should go with you Fia-san. In my care he’d end up dying.” The princess’ face showed no doubt and only a confident facade of a leader.

Fia couldn’t help but marvel at the daughter of her old friend, and how much she’d grown. “Okay princess. I’ll let Katakuri know this evening and I will take him with me in the morning in secret. You better go see him now.”

The princess nodded her head then rushed over to where the canine was peacefully resting. As she was petting his head and speaking softly to him, Fia changed out the IV bag as the fluids had already drained. She then gave him another half dose of pain meds for the evening, and did another quick check of his mouth, eyes, and listened to his pulse with a stethoscope. Fia was pleased with the stability of her patient for now so she rose to give the princess more privacy.

After a few minutes the princess came over with the same confident face as before and grabbed Fiadh’s hand to lead her out of the stables. When she exited Fia noticed the sun was already well into late evening and the sun was getting ready to set. Princess Tama and Fia went to the dining hall directly where the butler Tiko fed them. While eating the princess chattered as she normally would with no mention of the beast or any sign of it affecting her. After they ate Fiadh gave the young girl a tight hug and promised to see her in the morning before leaving.

**_____________**

That evening as expected a knock was heard from outside Fiadh’s room. Fia was lounging in a chair in her large hoodie, shorts, and her hair was pulled up in a messy bun. While the keepsake was clearly worn throughout the years she still continued to wear it, and will until it completely fell apart. She called Katakuri in and continued scribbling in her notebook. The large man entered in his normal attire and scarf securely around his face. 

Katakuri couldn’t help but take in the image of Fia’s completely relaxed attire. He thoroughly enjoyed the visible skin. The tickling feeling coming from his mark brought him out of his train of thought.

“Good evening Katakuri!” Fia said with a grin, “I’ve got lots to go over with you, but before that I need a favor.”

This made Katakuri raise an eyebrow and wordlessly asked her to continue.

“So… I’m going to need a patient with me for possibly the rest of the trip. Depends on recovery rate and all that, but I promise it won’t affect anything. It’ll be my responsibility if anything goes wrong and all that too.”

“What is this patient of yours..?” Katakuri assumed it was whatever the young princess had stolen Fiadh for earlier, but he didn’t know what the animal was exactly. He had to confirm that before agreeing to anything.

“It’s a large canine. Severely injured and suffering from neglect. Might have been wild, but I’m betting money he was someone’s pet from the marks of abuse.” Fia scowled at the last bit. Abuse cases always left a bad taste in her mouth and the itch to bash skulls.

“Hm… Okay. As you said, it’s your responsibility and it better not get in the way of your job.” Katakuri didn’t mean to say it in such a curt way, but he didn’t know how else to communicate sometimes.

Fia just grinned and responded with, “Of course!”

After a brief pause during which Katakuri couldn’t help but notice how poorly Fiadh’s hoodie fit her as she continuously fought with the sleeves. It was clearly a guys hoodie and his mind quickly spiraled into wondering whose it might be. He had to remind himself it wasn’t his place to pry anymore than he already did.

“Ready to discuss the next stop?” Katakuri asked to try and derail his brain before he said something stupid again.

“Yup! Grab a chair, I’ll get my notes on Oka for you.” Fia turned to a stool next to her chair and pulled out her notebook for the trip quickly flipping to the correct page.

Katakuri grabbed a desk chair from across the room and brought it next to Fiadh before accepting the notebook. He skimmed through it as he had done before and noticed there wasn’t much added to it except some information from a call Fia must have made with someone from Oka. Fia returned to her scribbling in another notebook and Katakuri found himself quickly becoming distracted and stealing glances at the woman while she worked.

“Can I help you?” Fia asks without moving her eyes from her notebook. She was doing her best not to show a smirk on her face as she avoided looking at Katakuri directly. His eyes had been burning a hole in her head the past few minutes.

“No..?”

“Why’re you staring then?” Fia finally looks up to see Katakuri’s face being one of confusion. Snorting audibly Fia looks away from the comical sight.

“What?!” Katakuri asks in an indignant tone.

“Nothing, your face was just cute!” Fia’s ears burn hot as she realizes her slip-up, “I mean funny!”

Now it was Katakuri’s turn to blush, thankful his face was covered. “Sure… Anyway, I was just wondering about this animal at Oka that produces the milk. What is it exactly?” Quickly changing the topic was all he could think to do in the moment and Fia looked relieved at the switch.

Clearing her voice Fia says, “It’s a strange looking cow, goat hybrid Dr. Vegamunk created quite a few years ago called a Nubian-Aquita, Aquita for short. I don’t know all the details on how it came into being or why he created it, but it’s milk is just as sweet as rumored and is thicker than normal milk too. Perfect for baking!”

“Sounds interesting… So where does silk come into this as their export?” 

“Since their climate is so mild they can grow Bombi larvae that grow in cherry blossom trees very well. These insect larvae are used in the natural protein fiber that makes up a silk textile.”

“Why do you know so much weird knowledge..?” It had exited his mouth before Katakuri could process. Of course Fia would know things like this, exportation of goods was a large part of her job! Katakuri thought to myself.

“Hahah! Judging by your face you just answered that question yourself. It’s for my job of course, but I’m also a curious person! Knowledge is power in my field of expertise.” Fia just grinned at the taller man without taking any offense. She could see the tips of his ears were red again in his own embarrassment and she mentally noted that they were even now. For some reason her mark sparked at that moment and she felt a pleasant tingle rush across her whole body that made her shiver.

Katakuri noticed Fia shiver at the exact moment his mark sent a thrill of electricity down his spine. He couldn’t help but smirk in pleasure at her sharing at least this feeling with him. If nothing else their shared mark gave him the confidence to continue being as comfortable with her as he is now. He’d given up questioning his feelings for now, that was for a later time.

“Yea… That does make sense.” Katakuri says to break the prolonged silence. 

“Any other questions about Oka? Did my scribbles about my conversation with a representative from there make sense?”

“Yes. They are expecting us and ready to talk business, but make no promises. That about right?”

“Yeaa, we just need to be careful not to offend them. They hold the Aquita as a type of deity and it is to be respected even higher than a person of royalty there. There is also a strange greeting I will teach you on the way there we must do when first greeting the King and Queen.”

“Okay, sounds good.” 

“Well, you’re more than welcome to stay here and continue to stare, but I’ll just be continuing my other work for a bit longer.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. Have a good night Fiadh.”

“Good night Katakuri!”

As the man stood to leave, he paused and turned back to ask, “Have you gotten anything on Brulee yet?”

Fia’s face fell from her sly smirk to a frown, “No not yet. I’m rather concerned now but I trust Praline will call once she knows something…”

“Okay, thanks. Night.”

“G’night! See you in the morning.” Fia made a mental note to wake up even earlier than normal to go transport her patient.

Katakuri grunted in response and headed out of her room back to his. Fia was glad he was getting so comfortable around her, but still felt a nagging need to confront the man about their marks. She wasn’t sure if that was a wise decision, but it seemed like the right thing to do. While Fia didn’t have a set expectation from doing so, she simply wanted to get it out of the way so whatever happens can happen.

Fia brought out a medical chart and entered all the tentative data she collected earlier today on her most recent patient as a distractant. She then recorded everything she used and how much so she could decide on what to do tomorrow. The canine would probably need a couple days with the same level of care before it would even be feasible for him to wake up again. This gave Fiadh plenty of time to run some tests to figure out exactly what sort of beast she’s now caring for and also get the best setup together she could.

Pulling out her protected den-den mushi line she dialed in a well used number. After just a few rings the other side picked up and the mushi’s face twisted into a bird-like scowl.

“What?”

“Aweee, I missed you too Darra!”

A heavy sigh could be heard before a muffled stream of curses were released, “What do you want Fia-san?”

Despite all his grumbles Fia knew the loyal vulture truly cared for her and he just kept this tough exterior as a mask. His ability to speak had almost ended in his capture at a young age but Fiadh had taken him in and since he had dutifully served her despite being offered complete freedom.

“I need a favor from my favorite companion ever!” Fia said all this with a shit eating grin.

“You mean your only companion ever? Fine, you owe me. What do you want?”

“I need a large crate with the seastone locks, a large dog bed, blankets, and medical supply refill including extra DEA -1.1 blood. Oh, and could you bring me my other satchel with my extra clothes? I’m getting tired of the same shit…”

“Fuck… What’d you take in this time? You know what? I don’t even want to know… Fine, I'll get it to you by tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks, you’re the best! I’ll get you something new and shiny at the next island.”

“I know. You better!” the den-den mushi slightly switched from a scowl to a smirk before reverting back.

With that the line was cut with a loud GACHA and Fiadh cackled to herself.

“Oh, he’s the cutest…” Fia reminisced on the day she had first picked up Darra.

He had been just a scrap of feathers at the time. Hardly even a hatchling, unable to fly, and clearly alone in the woods of a predator filled island. Fiadh’s crew was newly formed and just starting to make a name for themselves in the beginning of the Grand Line. Fia was quite young and overly confident in her veterinary skills at that time. She had almost killed Darra mistreating a broken wing. However, she was able to quickly remedy it after a blow to her ego, and the bird was clearly able to fly now. Everything worked out somehow.

He had been beaten by traffickers during his escape. They had heard him crying out and had gone thinking he was a child ripe for the stealing but quickly realized he was much more worthwhile. Fia to this day wasn’t entirely certain how he had managed to escape and Darra never spoke of it so she let it be. Instead she had taken him in and once he was capable of flight offered him to go back on the island she had picked him up at.

That was the first day he had spoken to her. Even now he rarely spoke, but much more than back then. He had clearly refuted returning and said he wanted to journey with Fia for as long as possible. Though he had gained a shitty attitude Fiadh still loved him, and knew he would always be there for him. Sometimes she regretted using him mostly as a means of transport he said he enjoyed it and that it gave him time to do his own thing. Regardless it made her current job a possibility. 

With the memories of Darra and her past Fia went to sleep with a smile. Her mark released a calming warmth that quickened her descent into sleep and left her with only peace of mind. She noted she’d struggle waking up early if this was how peaceful she was going to sleep, but didn’t care. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay with this, but I'm not DEAD! I'm ALIVEEE and still writing away. This story is by far my favorite and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!


	10. Emotions are Complicated...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katakuri is faced with even more strange emotions he can't process... Fiadh is too preoccupied with her new patient to notice, and the patient is too busy trying to ignore Fia. Who is Fiadh talking to?? Why does it bother Katakuri so much? Her job is communicating with people for fucks sake...

As expected Fiadh found herself sluggish the next morning and waking up at least half an hour later than she had wanted to. It was fine though, she just rushed in throwing on jeans, her tall boots, green sash with her golden clasp, her sword rested in the sash, and a loose white blouse went over her head. Even though she registered the blouse would probably get stained or ruined she wanted to wear comfortable clothes that still were presentable. 

There was little darkness left as the sun was quickly rising over the horizon. Fiadh had to work fast, so she smacked her cheeks before briskly heading out of her room. Her stuff had already been packed and was ready to go, so all she had to do was load her large cargo. Taking only her medical bag and her katana she got to the stables behind the castle she saw the black silhouette of her old companion.

“Heyyy! Darra!” Fia called waving at her friend. The bird just huffed at her and rolled his eyes.

“You’re late, shitty vet.”

“Watch your tongue bird brain!” Fia snapped back while smiling widely at the vulture-like bird. He was almost as big as the stables, and his immense size never failed to impress Fiadh even after so many years. She noted the large cage behind her friend with a large pile of blankets and pillows stuffed in it to make it more comfortable as well as a large bag of medical equipment she rarely kept on hand.

“Alright, I’ll go check on my patient then if everything is good I’ll bring him out.” The slight clink of her katana gave her away as she approached the canine. However, the black blob didn’t even twitch, still very sedated and peacefully resting.

Fiadh quickly did a basic inspection using her hand-held flashlight to check his gums, eyes, and ears. All looked the same as last night, so she quickly unhooked him from the IV bag that was now empty and felt along his body while checking the bandages for any opening of wounds. Later she would have to do some stitches of staples to help the healing of the larger wounds.

Wrapping her large arms under the canine Fiadh fluidly lifts the canine while supporting the head with her shoulder. Despite being a big woman, the canine was still slightly bigger in length than her and had substantial weight. There was a slight twitch along the canine's body as one of the wounds were probably irritated, but Fiadh was careful and quick. She exited the stables with smooth strides and quickly set the canine in the large cage Darra had brought. Fiadh gently settles her patient on the pile of pillows and secures him down with some leather straps connected to the large cage.

After ensuring nothing had changed again from being moved Fiadh gives Darra a thumbs up. Darra quickly stretches out his wings before taking off into flight. His large wings cause trees to flatten and even Fiadh had to squint at the dust kicked up, she hears the roof of the stables groan in protest at the offensive wind as well. Darra does one small circle before swooping down and grabbing the cage by a leather strap at the top meant for him. 

“Woohooo! I love this part!” Fia cried with a grin. 

Still in the cage with the canine Fiadh stares with sparkling eyes as the sun comes into view with the change in altitude. They rise well over the castle and swiftly reach an altitude Darra looks like a normal sized bird from. The smooth breathes of her patient gave her hope for a successful recovery. 

“You’re certainly a tough one dude…” Fiadh says as petting the canines head gingerly. She swiftly covers her patient in a large blanket as she notices the approaching ship.

As fast as they’d taken off Darra was setting them down on the ship. He spirels down to the ship so as to not disrupt the patient. Fiadh waved off Darra while promising him his reward once again. The handful of crew out at this time had shocked faces and weren’t sure exactly what to do about this situation, but quickly went back to their work after identifying Fiadh. Fiadh quickly wheeled the cage down below to a secluded part of the ship that didn’t seem to be used for much anymore. 

Working with agile hands Fiadh hooks the canine back up to the IV and gives him another smaller dose of pain meds. She checks his catheter, hooks him up to a SIMD machine to watch his blood pressure, and another machine to administer his nutrients and medicine at scheduled times. She then changes a few bandages that were stained red with blood only to find a few wounds that had reopened a bit. This was expected, but still a tad frustrating for Fia. Quickly rebandaging the patient she takes her medical bag of equipment out and covers the canine with one of the blankets as the previous one was stained in blood. Then out of precaution she locked the cage shut and headed out.

Fiadh had to basically run back to the castle and sneak inside as it was now daybreak and more people were starting to work and roam. She moved by the rooftops instead of the streets, something she hadn’t done in quite some time but was surprisingly exhilarating. She leaped up to a small shop roof from the ground with her powerful stride she carefully launched from one roof to another, trying not to destroy anyone’s roofing in the process. When the castle came into view Fia quickly smoothed her frizzled hair back and darted in to get back to her room.

All her stuff was packed as she left it so she grabbed it and headed out. Fia pivoted on her back right foot right into a solid wall. Letting a very unlady like yelp she quickly puts distance between herself and the obstacle. Deep chuckles could be heard as she looked up to be met with amused magenta eyes. 

Clearing his voice of his laughter Katakuri says, “Sorry… Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Fia couldn’t help but snort at the situation as she responds with a nod and a rueful smile, “What’d you come in here unannounced for? What if I was changing again..”

Katakuri’s visible ears turned bright red as a choked sound escaped his throat as he stammered out, “I-I didn’t mean t-to that time…”

Fia cackles loudly at the embarrassed man’s expense as she had soundly got her payback for him sneaking up on her. Despite his ability to sneak up on her Fiadh still had the upper hand in being able to get under the man’s skin with her words.

“It’s fine! I’m just teasing.”

“Ugh… You’re worse than my sisters…”

“Now that’s just rude!” After a short pause of Fia grinning cheekily up at the taller man she says, “So, what’d you actually come here for?”

“Well I did knock… But I came to see how your patient's movement went.” Katakuri says with a hint of defensiveness. 

“It went smoothly since I got help! He’s settled for now but we’re going to need to hurry out of here and get underway so I can begin more extensive care for him.” Fia’s grin vanished as she suddenly was focused on her work.

While Katakuri found himself wanting to see Fiadh’s smile more he also appreciated how serious she was about her work. Despite not always acting her age the woman was nearly as old as him, even though he found that hard to believe looking at her face. Plenty of people said he didn’t look his age, however, he thought Fiadh should be the one being questioned. To him he looked at most 30 yet he knew better thanks to intelligence from his mother.

He stopped that train of thought to focus back in on the current conversation, “Alright. I’ll go grab my things then.”

Fia always found it interesting how quickly Katakuri ended conversations, it didn’t offend her, it was honestly impressive. She wished she could use that same tactic but sadly a lot of the politics she was dragged into wasn’t receptive to that. Though she normally did it anyway. Looking herself down once she noticed her white blouse had a blood stain from moving her patient so she had to change it. Turning her back to the slightly open door but not bothering to fix it she grabs a new grey t-shirt from her bag of clothes.

Just as she’s throwing the shirt over her head she hears a thump then a slam by her door. Looking behind her she notices her previously cracked door was firmly shut making her raise an eyebrow. Now redressed she grabs her two bags and heads for the door. Opening it she finds an empty hallway so she turns to Katakuri’s room to find him. Knocking on the door she gets no response so she assumes he left without her which honestly irritates her a bit.

Little thumping feet can be heard in the hallway Fiadh now is walking down and she doesn’t even bother looking to see as a small body impacts into her back. The spunky princess looks up at Fia with a watery smile to which she pats the girl’s head soothingly. 

“He’s doing better princess. I’m sure there will be a full recovery.”

“Thank you Fia-sama…” The princess sniffles and rubs at her eyes to not let the tears fall.

Patting her head again Fiadh turns and continues walking out of the castle with the princess following at her side. The growth of the little princess astounded Fiadh, she had to mature far too quickly but such is the life of a royal. The King, Queen, and a group of knights were waiting outside as they exited the front door. However, there was no Katakuri in sight. The quirky man obsessed with his merienda’s, sweets, and privacy was a true mystery to Fia.

Sighing at the strange man's disappearance Fiadh turns to say goodbye to the Tama royals. The princess showed no signs of her previous sadness and sent her off with a big smile. Fia promised to return again and turned to leave. 

All through the town Fia got calls from the locals waving her off, and when she reached the docks she saw Katakuri’s crew hustling everywhere on deck to get the ship ready to sail. 

Fiadh beelined for her room where she threw her bags in and headed one level lower to go to her patient. When she got there she noticed some lingering crew that was obviously curious about the new sign on the door to a previously empty room. Fia had left a do not enter sign on the door with her signature on the door that luckily seemed to be working.

“Hey, get back to your work.” Fia snapped with no real malice or bite just purely instruction. They all scattered before she could even reach the door. 

As she came in she noticed the large black dog animal was evenly breathing and there were no signs of new blood. Fiadh figured she might be able to just glue some of the wounds together and that’d be enough, depending how stubborn her patient turns out to be. However, as she checked his blood pressure it was clear it wouldn’t be long for the sedative to start wearing off. Fia decided to let it ease off enough to see if the mutt had enough will to wake up and respond. If not her work might be all for nothing, the patient themselves had to have a will to live to make it through such life threatening injuries. 

Fia decides to sit next to the cage and she unlocks it, then takes out her locked notebook to work a bit on the project Law entrusted her with. She quickly realized she’d need to call in way more favors than she first thought… Damn brat. He’d just really started making a name for himself in the grandline and he’s already thinking this large scale. What twisted shit did Corazon teach this child… Oh well she’d always do whatever he needs, within reason, and assured the damn kid wouldn’t wind up dead. His reckless abandonment for himself truly pissed her off, but no amount of beatings from her changed it. Even if it meant ruining her standing with the government Fia would make sure at least he survived.

Laying out Law’s routes and comparing it to some other crews she thought might be useful she boiled it down to three comparable crews that might be willing to work with him. Her number one pick per Vivi’s suggestion was the Strawhats though Law might not approve. As she was scratching notes her personal transporter snail started ringing with a muffled “purupuru.”

“Gatcha”

“Hello, who is it?”

“Ah, Fia-sama! It’s Praline!” followed by, “And Aladdin…” sounding increasingly depressed at being left out of their conversations.

“Oh, Praline-san! Any news?”

“Yes, Mama sent sis-Brulee on a mission. Apparently she’s used excessive force with her again too which is why she hasn’t been able to talk or come see you yet…”

Both women understood exactly what Praline meant by Big Mom using excessive force… Fia’s expression instantly darkens as she stares down coldly at the transponder.

“Why?” The ice in her voice definitely surprised Praline as the snail's face contorted into shock.

Aladdin ends up responding gruffly saying, “She had hunger pains and was lashing out, Brulee was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She’ll be fine, but Big Mom is sending her out almost immediately on a mission with her older brother Oven.”

Fia’s face twists in mild disgust at the name but nods saying, “Okay, gotcha. Thank you guys for getting me that information, sorry if it inconvenienced you two.”

“It’s totally fine Fia-sama!” Chimed Praline, “Also, I heard something very interesting from my sister. Apparently Big Mom was trying to find some way to more permanently tie you to our family, and you know what that means for her…”

Fia scowls and says, “Hm… Thanks for the heads up.”

She could hear Aladdin chuckling before commenting, “Fate really is a bitch to you, huh?”

“Always has been old friend…” Fia says ruefully. “These years have been peaceful, and I am finally in a place of comfortable power, I’m not willing to give that up for this right now.”

“I understand. You’ve been through a lot. We all have… No one will judge you for thinking about yourself first on this. She’s a dangerou woman to get mixed up with.” Aladdin responds in a very fatherly tone.

“Yet I feel guilty… For wanting to follow this fateful mark and see where it goes.” Fia chuckles to herself before continuing, “My mother must be rolling in her grave seeing her callous daughter now!”

Aladdin’s face made the den den mushi’s face scrunch up in sadness, “Fiadh, you can follow it if it will bring you happiness. Don’t if you can’t do so comfortably, you might just have to wait.”

Fia nods and says, “Thanks Aladdin. You, as always, give good advice. I’ll talk to you two later. Thanks again, and sorry for burdening you with my problems.”

“Fia-sama, that is what friends are for! We’ll talk to you later, safe travels to Oka!”

“Gacha”

And with that Fia was left with her thoughts. She mulled over the worth of trying to truly pursue her fated pair, not that she wasn’t interested in him as a person. So far he had proven himself to be an interesting guy and he definitely was easy on the eyes. However, his family was the issue and he seemed thoroughly loyal to his mother which posed a serious issue for Fia and the woman’s interest in controlling her. Maybe something could be worked out, for now she’d let things stay as is for the trip and go from there.

“Ahhhh, I thought I got over boy troubles in my 20s! Damnit!” Fia cried out in defeat before flopping backwards on the floor like a child.

Just as she does this a rustling can be heard from the cage, worried she disturbed she sits up and looks over. Right at eye level are two piercing red eyes, half lidded and unable to focus. The black hound was definitely awake and looking right at her…

“Ah, sorry bud… I didn’t mean to be that loud” Fia sat up embarrassedly rubbing the back of her head. “How are you feeling?”

Of course Fia knew he wouldn’t be able to respond; she always asked her patients this. The dog huffed at her and moved it’s head away from her direction making Fia laugh, most animals she treated reacted like this to her after weeks of care not minutes.

“Alright, alright that’s fair… You need more pain meds?” Fia moved over and opened the cage with no fear.

The large dog turned and growled low in it’s throat at her, Fia crouched down out of reach and stretched the back of her hand out to let the patient sniff her hand if interested. Though he showed no outwards interest she could tell he was still checking her.   
“I’m just trying to help you recover pup, don’t make this more difficult than necessary.” 

Getting another huff and a disinterested head nod, Fia was certain the canine understood her as she began checking his wounds and saw from his small movement he opened the lacerations on his neck. She began cleaning it, took out some medical grade glue to seal the wound quickly, and rebandaged it with little complaints from her patient. Once she was done she changed the IV bag, connected another bag of nutrient supplements, and gave another small dose of pain medicine. This time not enough to knock him out unless he wanted to rest. 

Crouching down once again Fia gently thumbed the canines head with little fear of him biting her while high on meds and hummed softly. She hummed a short lullaby she learned as a child and as soon as the large black lump of fur fell asleep she got up to leave him in silence. He was almost out of the most dangerous part, her only concern was having to put in a drain for any internal bleeding, and the risk of missed broken bones as she has no way to do any x-rays. He definitely had a few ribs fractured judging from how he’s breathing, but no major breaks that would require surgery. Taking out a watch from her medical bag she sinks it to his vitals so she’d be alerted for any changes in heart rate, or pressure changes.

Softly closing the door Fia heads to the kitchen to make herself a snack and drink. They were already well underway and it was past lunch time when Fia popped her head above deck to check everything. She still hadn’t seen Katakuri and was mildly curious why he was avoiding her, though not complaining as it gave her time to think about her conversation with Aladdin. 

As she reached the kitchen she was met with the chefs frantically rushing around cooking and only one briefly waved at her. Fia felt sweat run down her face in confusion but figured they just had something going on…

“No you fool! He didn’t like that last time!” Yelled one of the chefs while hitting another with a wooden spoon.

“Um… Can I help?” Fia says awkwardly still at the door not sure what’s going on.

“Hm.. She did good work last time.”

“YES! Please, we’re in a bind here.” Cuts in the chef that got hit with a spoon.

“Okayy… What do you guys need?” Fia asks.

“We’re trying to make some donuts that will stand out and taste exceptional!”

“Hmm… Okay, well I can try and help but I doubt I’ll keep up with professionals. What’s the recipe idea?”

“Liquor donuts, and some beignets tiramisu. However, we can’t get the donuts right!”

“Ah, you need to use something like whiskey or a coffee liqueur for liquor donuts. I’ll work on those if you guys tackle the tiramisu monster.” Fia quickly grabbed an apron off the wall, tied her mess of hair up in a ponytail and got to work. 

As soon as she tied her hair up she noticed one of the chefs blatantly staring at her scar, which she was not ashamed of, but she figured a pirate crew would be used to seeing scars of all things. She got right to doing her typical donut making procedure, deciding on making some chocolate coffee liqueur donuts. Fia decided to cook some of the liqueur into the donut then infused it at the end as they were halfway through cooling off. As she was wrapping up she looked around at the other chefs and saw that they’re wrapping up too.

“Alright, I’ll just plate this then work on a drink for myself.” Fia decided since a nice coffee liqueur was already out she’d use it for her drink.

Fia quickly made up a White Russian with no vodka and whip cream on top for herself and all the chefs present. Then she decided a cheese snack board would be best since she wasn’t very hungry after testing her donuts.

“Heyy! I made you all a drink for our success!” Called Fiadh.

All the chefs cheered out and quickly came to grab their drinks. One asked for an extra to send off with the seats which Fiadh already had some extra off to the side. One of the chefs disappeared to deliver while the rest chatted with Fia for her recipe and complimented her ability.

“I’m no professional, I just know how to appease a drunkard pirate crew that loves sweets!” Said Fiadh in embarrassment at the attention.

“Don’t be so humble! You’re really amazing Fia-sama.”

She quickly brushed them off and took her drink with her snack to her patients room. He had been left to rest the past few hours and was certainly in a deep sleep so she wasn’t worried about disturbing him. As she approached the room she sensed two presences in the hallway. When the room was in site she saw a few crewmembers lingering again to which she sighed at.

“Are you all this nosey?”

“AH! Fia-sama! We’re sorry, we’ll leave right away.” The two caught said in unison.

“Ugh… You can peek in real quick just make sure no one else lingers around here and disturbs my patient again!”

“Yes ma’am! Sorry for the disturbance!” They said bowing at a perfect 90 degrees.

“Uh-huh, you’re saying sorry but you’re still gonna follow.” Fia rolled her eyes in annoyance.

As Fia opened the door the two crew members leaned in to crane their necks around Fiadh and see what was inside the room. They were met with shining red eyes and both squealed in terror before running off. Fia just let out a barking laugh before shutting the door to greet her patient.

“You’re supposed to be resting! Ugh, should’ve known you’d be a difficult patient…” Fia heard a distinct cranky huff from the canine.

“Hey! Don’t you talk back! I promise I’m not trying to hurt you, I’m just trying to get you somewhere safe and healed enough you won’t die.”

This time there was no huff and the black beast closed its eyes as if to ignore her and not accept it’s defeat. Fia wasn’t surprised as her experience in the New World had taught her well, but her patient definitely seemed to understand the human language well. The intelligence level was definitely higher in this ocean, however, something about her patient made her think he might be some sort of experiment. Regardless she would do what she could and hope for the best for her stubborn patient. She was sure she’d win him over eventually.

**_____________**

Meanwhile across the ship a very moody Katakuri sulks in his cabin made of mochi in his room with a pile of sweets and a drink on a cart next to him. He hungrily eyes the sweets over before pulling down his scarf. Momentarily pausing he traces the scars on the side of his mouth and wonders what Fia would think if she ever were to see his face. A flash of Fia’s scar flitted through his mind, she proudly wore it despite it clearly being a painful memory. Her strength is one he envied and wished he could just steal for himself. 

Focusing back on his late merienda Katakuri tests the tiramisu beignets tower, saving his favorite for last. He let out a loud grunt in satisfaction and began his normal gushing over the sweet dessert. It was perfectly made yet he still felt something was missing… This was the exact reason he had sent the last merienda desserts back earlier. He took a sip of the drink and was pleasantly surprised at the liquor’s sweet, creamy taste. It was perfectly balanced in every way.

Then he devoured an entire row of donuts in one bite, allowing his jaw to stretch to accommodate the food. While alone he had no shame in how he ate or anything to do with his normal embarrassment; it was his one bit of downtime. Halfway through he froze, eyes wide, and cheeks full. This… This was what he had been craving. This unexplainable sweetness and taste of comfort. They were clearly not as professionally made as everything else, but these donuts were better than any other dessert he had been offered that day.

After continuing to chew he closed his eyes and was met with the mark on his back aching. Huh… That had never happened during a merienda, why was it disturbing his one happy time of the day? Katakuri released an irritated growl before deciding to ignore the mark and go back to devouring his sweets. He made a mental note to talk to the chefs about the donuts and figure out which one of them had made them.

**_____________**

A full day passed and Katakuri was still avoiding Fiadh on the ship. Granted neither of them were going out of their way to disturb the distance, nor would either admit that it was bothering them. Their usual frequent chats at night meant more to Katakuri than he thought, seeing it as a weakness he decided to stomp that emotion for now. Meanwhile Fiadh just wanted the space to think, get some of her work done, and focus on her stubborn patient. 

The large, stubborn patient was doing significantly better. Though Fiadh had to put two drains into wounds that decided to be temperamental and needed them. One was a wound on his abdomen, the other was a wound on his back leg. The wound on his neck had gotten infected so now antibiotics were being administered with the pain meds. She also was able to get him started on some food she cooked herself that was filled with necessary recovery nutrients and vitamins for seriously injured patients. 

Everytime, twice a day, Fiadh would bring the food down and it was the only time her patient looked at her in interest with the normal disgust not there. It was a heaping bowl of rice that had soaked up chicken broth, with an entire chicken on top that had vitamins pushed inside of the meat and dissolved, then there were carrots, sweet potato, green beans, and some cubes of apple along the side. She then cracked two quail eggs to go on top of the vegetables as she set the bowl down in front of her patient who hungrily licked his chops. He was given such a large quantity of food for his clearly emaciated state, it was clear out of everything getting him back to an appropriate weight would take longer than even his recovery from his injuries. 

“Awee, you’re always such a good eater!” Said Fia as she stroked the black beasts head. 

This was a new development, that after the first few meals he let her pet his head, and seemed to trust her with obvious reserve. Fiadh noticed after seeing her patients teeth again that he most definitely was crossed with some kind of lion. His tail that was clearly lion like was flicking back and forth like a pleased cat. She had also learned the hard way not to touch his little horns, however, the bases were itchy, most likely from growing, so she could itch there. 

After running her finger lightly over the wounds on his neck and feeling their healthy recovery in the form of scabs. She had to use her hands as his thick, long fur around his neck made it impossible to view the wounds. Fia almost had to shave the hair there to view the infected wounds but she decided against it after mulling it over as the long hair would take years to regrow.

The large beast finished his food at record breaking speed and sat there burping contentedly licking his paws. There was pure content bliss on his face and Fiadh took one of the fluffier blankets next to him and wrapped it over his back. At this point Fia got a content grumble from the canine before he was completely asleep, softly snoring. This was the routine they’d fallen into and after Fia confirmed his personality she no longer locked the cage when she left to do the rest of her day.

Once her patient could move more she might have to worry about keeping the cage properly secured, but only so the crew didn’t get hurt for their continued curiosity. The crewmates she previously scared witless had spread the tales of Fiadh’s creature of nightmares being locked away below deck. They had taken their one sighting of red eyes and blew it into a horror story to strike fear into their fellow crewmates and play off their own terror. Fia just found it amusing and did nothing to address the rumors floating around.

Although she normally wasn’t much for letting gossip pass, this was thoroughly amusing to her. Despite the rumors the crew still treated her with respect and greeted her like normal. However, some of the younger crew looked more fearful of her all of which Fia giggled at daily. After her morning visit with her patient she’d go to her room or to the deck to do her work. This day it was sunny and pleasant above deck so Fia set herself up on the upper deck with a folding chair and table. Her normal snacks and tea within arm reach as she began her work.

Recently she had been tasked by the government to help with a supply shortage to Sabaody Archipelago where there was a massive marine base. It thoroughly irritated her since it wasn’t a shortage due to supply routes, but because the marines kept stuffing more and more men onto a very small island. Fia had already told them they needed to decrease the number and increase the quality of marines on the island. Those old fuckers at the top never listened to her though, and left her with their messes to clean up.

It was a relatively easy fix with just a few calls and threatening some shit head merchants into giving appropriate deals on the increase in goods. After that correction she did her normal catching up on news and sifted through a stack of the past week's newspapers. Nothing of great significance had occurred though she did see that there was some political disrest in one of the islands on their course. Though it wouldn’t be a big deal, Fiadh wrote in her notebook to call her point of contact for more information in case she has to reevaluate it being on the journey.

Evening came quickly and the third day of Katakuri ignoring her came to a close. It was beginning to irritate her, and as she had done nothing to the man she did nothing to contact him. As she collected her things and went below deck she thought about what to ask the chefs to make her for dinner. She went to do the evening check for her patient first and went to the kitchen to get his food.

In the kitchen she requested a basic dinner with wine from the chefs, and shuffled through the fridge to get his food together. The check went smoothly and the canine scarfed his food then passed out as normal. Fiadh went back to her room where a cart with her dinner awaited her. She decided to enjoy the entire bottle of wine offered and savored the taste of the professionally made food paired with it.

Fiadh was on the last glass of wine when her private den den mushi began ringing. Sighing, she set it in front of her and answered it.

“What?!” Fia answers, thinking it was her shitty kid bugging her again.

“Well that was a rude way to answer a friend…” Came a deep, slow, drawling voice, sounding as uninterested as ever.

Fiadh’s eyes went wide in shock, “Shit! You never call, how was I supposed to know?!”

“Arara~ same as ever, huh…”

“Ugh… Well what’d you call for ice for brains?” Fia said exasperated.

“Just checking in. Haven’t seen you in the news or heard of you being at headquarters recently.” Though the tone was disinterested the person genuinely did care.

Fiadh giggled before saying, “You’re the same as ever too. I’m alright, on a job you definitely wouldn’t approve of, but when have I ever cared what you thought?” was her snarky response.

“Hm~... True. You going to say what this job is or should I wait for it to reach the news?”

“Hahah! I’m helping a rather notorious pirate crew, one you especially despise. However, I couldn’t avoid it anymore so I apologize if it worries you unnecessarily. You know I can take care of myself though.”

“I’m well aware… Just call if you ever need any help.” 

Fiadh was caught off guard by the surprisingly soft voice that came through the den den mushi but she simply smiled and nodded her head.

“Thanks, I will. Same to you! Whenever you get tired of your stuffy job and finally quit just let me know!” Fiadh starts laughing at the look of disgust the snail was mimicking.

Fiadh continued talking to her friend until late into the night, both parties throwing snarky nicknames and comments at one another, but catching up on what they’d been doing. They’d both known eachother since she was a notorious pirate and had butted heads then, it wasn’t until her change of occupation they became friends. For the first time in a few days she fell asleep with a smile on her face and slept soundly with a light feeling. 

**_____________**

Meanwhile Katakuri had decided to wander the ship and check on his men that evening. He found himself near Fiadh’s room before he even realized where his feet were taking him. Something that was happening more and more frequently, this damn subconscious magnet that drew him to the woman. He pivoted on his heels but paused when he heard Fiadh giggling loudly. Something in his chest clenched as he heard a laugh he hadn’t heard before. She had laughed around him, but not like that, it sounded light as a child and free of any worries. As he hears Fia’s muffled talking he sees flashes of a pale, toned back, a jagged old scar, and a black circle. Shaking his head in irritation Katakuri sighs audibly.

Katakuri couldn’t hold back his curiosity and approached her room a bit closer only to hear the same laugh again even louder. He couldn’t make out the words but Fiadh was talking fast and excitedly to obviously a male. Katakuri at first thought it might be her kid, but she heard the voice again and knew it wasn’t the same.

Leaving rapidly Katakuri mulled over exactly what Fiadh was talking about and who the other person was. He’d never been this nosey except when one of his sisters came to him saying they’d fallen in love. No… This was different than even that. Something burned in his stomach and his chest kept twisting when he thought of Fiadh’s smile and imagined the face she’d make with it. He had no right to even be curious after ignoring and avoiding the woman the past few days.

Though he had taken the space with the excuse to break his weakness for her and to process his feelings he’d done neither. Like a child he had simply suppressed his emotions and avoided the issue. Katakuri was annoyed with himself and didn’t know how to approach these issues. Maybe he should ask a sibling of his that was already married..? No. He would never admit to having any weakness or issue to his family. He had to be perfect in every regard, he also didn’t trust them not to tell Mama.

Thinking about why he was even avoiding her he realized all together he was being incredibly childish. Despite being a repeat offender he still hadn’t learned his lesson and this time it was affecting him significantly more. It was his own fault for not being able to face her again after his own mistake. I mean what woman changes without making sure her door is shut! That wasn’t HIS fault. 

Katakuri groans in irritation and drags a hand through his hair, no he knew it was his fault. Even if it was an accident like before, he shouldn’t be avoiding the woman. He wished he could’ve just moved on and forgotten like last time, but now he knew too much and had actually let himself grow closer to the woman.

Sighing and ruffling his hair Katakuri went above deck to get some air and finish his rounds. That night he did not sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy the extra long chapter! Sorry for the wait on this. Anyone want to take guesses on who called Fiadh this time?! ;)


	11. There's a Box in my Hound!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Fiadh is confused about life and love. A bunch of drunkards try and help her out and leave her even more lost in the sauce... And her patient keeps trying to die on her! (Jk he's a good boy and deserves all the pets)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for any typos. I did not proof read this. (Might reupload if I do)

The next week continued in a similar rhythm, and after the first few days of annoyance Fiadh felt nothing at all towards Katakuri’s avoidance of her. Her mark on her shoulder had other thoughts, having a constant dull ache and itch. Fia was a master at ignoring such a minor inconvenience with her scar being in that state constantly as is. Her patient was doing better steadily in many aspects such as weight and blood pressure levels being stable. However, she was concerned that he was still in constant pain and discomfort. 

Fiadh knew the beast was highly intelligent after many days spent around them and seemed to understand everything she said and that she was trying to help. Yet he still wouldn’t speak back to her, though there were some animals Fiadh could not communicate with due to their lack of intelligence this was clearly not one of those cases. She wasn’t going to push the matter and instead looked forward to the victorious day her patient would open up, though maybe he didn’t even think she could understand even if he did say something…

After another inspection Fiadh decided she’d have to bite the bullet and take him to go get better imaging done. There was no internal bleeding, however, something clearly wasn’t right and it was bugging her more by the day. So she made a quick call to Darra and mapped out their rough coordinates. It all worked well as she wasn’t too far from a location that would work perfectly, and she’d be able to do a supply dropoff that was close to due. Normally she would just send Darra alone, but she always liked to go when she could. 

Darra easily agreed to come pick her and the patient up without even setting a price, instead he simply reminded Fiadh of the gold that was still due. Appeasing her old friend with many promises she began the preparations for her patient. Now that he was conscious it would be both easier and more difficult for this trip. It was also going to be a longer journey across the sea.

Fiadh got right to work packing two duffles, one for herself and her necessary food, clothes, and toiletries. Another for her patient including his medicine, all her equipment, and plenty food and water for the trip there and back. She then got dressed in loose blue jeans, her dark green sash holding her katana, her tall boots, and a black crop top that said crimins across the bust. Tying her hair up in a messy ponytail and grabbing her travel cloak Fiadh sets out of her room to find Katakuri for the first time in over a week.

Hunting him down wasn’t hard as he was simply holed up in his room. Fia hesitates for only a moment before knocking on the door with three loud taps. 

“I said no one is to bother me.” Came a grouchy, tired voice.

Fiadh rolled her eyes before loudly saying, “It’s Fiadh.”

A thump could be heard from within the room then a deafening silence.

“Uh… One second.”

After two minutes of Fiadh oh so patiently waiting with her foot tapping at a faster rate by the second the door finally opens. Katakuri has his normal black vest and pants on, but not boots, and his hair sticks out in an odd way showing he had been trying to sleep. His scarf was slightly crooked but firmly in place.

“Yes?” His magenta eyes looked a tad wide in shock and his earlier annoyance was nowhere to be seen in his demeanor. 

This slightly softens Fiadh’s irritation, she responds curtly with “I’m going to be gone for a few days. Just wanted to let you know so you don’t think I jumped ship.”

“Uhh… What?”

Fiadh snorts at the stupefied face Katakuri is making before explaining, “Gotta take my patient to get x-rayed, maybe even an MRI dunno yet. Also gonna make a delivery I was commissioned to do. I’ll be back in a few days, well before you reach Oka.”

Katakuri quickly hides the swirl of emotions that twists within him. He hadn’t seen Fiadh in over a week and she shows up at his door to break the silence with her departure. Granted it was only for a few days and for a good reason, but still. 

To be safe Katakuri just nods his head and grunt in affirmation that he understood. He didn’t trust not to say something that’d piss the woman off after he had been the one avoiding her.

“Alrighty, I’ll be leaving within an hour or so. See ya in a few days.” Fiadh mock salutes before turning on her heels and walking away.    
Katakuri just stares at her retreating figure and realizes he no longer understood why he had been ignoring her. She clearly wasn’t upset about it though, however, he could feel the distance between them had grown. Shit… He fucked up.

**_____________**

Just as she said Fiadh within the hour had everything packed to go and was wheeling her grumpy patient up to the deck for pickup. Fia coos at him and makes sure he’s still wrapped in his blanket with only his head out to look around. She didn’t want him to get cold during their flight. When they got to the deck the crew froze and stared, all work halting as they craned to look into the cage. Her patient was audibly growling and she told him to knock it off as she stared up at the sky looking for a black dot.

Sensing eyes burning a hole into the back of her head she turns to see a pouting Katakuri standing by the doorway that led below deck. Suddenly he walked up to Fia at a brisk pace and fished something out of his pants pocket.

“Here. To call if you need.” Katakuri says as he shoves a small direct line Den den mushi into Fiadh’s direction.

Fia reaches out and takes the small snail before grinning up at Katakuri which makes his ears flush to match his hair. 

“Thank you. I’ll keep you updated so I don’t do a surprise return!”

Katakuri grunts before reaching out and ruffling Fiadh’s hair. His arm freezes awkwardly before he quickly turns away from her and heads back below deck.

“Well I guess he’s done being a brat… Alright let's get going!” Fiadh turns while clapping her hands in excitement before she begins stretching out her legs. 

She blames that for the blush on her face and not that she was touched that Katakuri suddenly seemed to care. For the first time in a while her mark sent that pleasant thrill down her spine and warmed her stomach matching her happy mood. He patient huffs in discontent and as if on cue Darra’s powerful wings cause gusts of wind that disturb the sails and cause some crew members to fall over. 

With no command or communication with Fiadh, Darra takes the supplies he’s already carrying and sets them on top of the cage. He then grabs the strap of the cage with the supplies in one go, meanwhile, Fiadh crouches low and launches upwards. Her powerful legs cause the entire ship to rock under pressure as she catapults up and over Darra’s back. Deftly Fia grabs the leather saddle and hoists herself into her seat and off they go. Darra causes the ship's board to groan in protest at his disturbance and the sails flap in outrage from the wind, but just as quickly as he arrived they were gone. 

It only took 6 hours for them to reach their destination and Fia was glad when they finally landed on the ground again. Her butt was sore from the saddle as it had been a while since she had flown with her companion. She quickly stretched then went to her patient who was doing well, just grumpy as always. Fia got some food and medicine together for him, always one to work ahead of pain for her patients. She looked around and saw it was a deserted island as she anticipated.

“Alright, where are the morons at?” Fia asks Darra with a snarky smirk.

Darra raises a wing pointing into the woods. Which explains why he dropped Fiadh off by the shore since he can’t navigate well within those large trees and dense foliage. Fiadh would have to wheel her patient the rest of the way. This wouldn’t pose much of an issue, but it would be annoying depending just how far they were since she also had their supplies in tow. 

“Okie, here we go!” Fia announces while waving off Darra who wasn’t one to wait around.

Fiadh began the trek into the woods keeping her haki as sharp as possible to pick up on the group she was searching for. Eventually she found their loud asses were more than enough. She heard them before her haki even picked up on their presence. It was only a 45 minute walk to get there and she was irritated to find them all drunk off their asses singing. Though she also expected nothing less of the group. After far too long one of them notices you.

“Ayeee! Mish Dartraigh ish herr!!” They drunkenly slur out.

Fiadh rolls her eyes and yells back, “WHERE’S DOC?!”

Silence. Everyone turns and stares before all cheering out her name. They all insisted on calling her by her last name after their stupid captain started to.

“Yes? That you Fia?” A middle aged man came out from a large tent set up on the edge of their party area. He wore yellow glasses, had a noticeable scar running down his right eye, and was heavily muscled.

“Yea, I need your equipment!” 

“Ah, k. It’s in the tent.” He says haphazardly before shuffling away. He had a very lazy attitude despite his appearance and was extremely laid back which was why Fiadh liked him so much.

“Captain! Miss Dartraigh is here!” Came an overly excited crew members cry.

“Yea, yea I heard ya! Buncha heathens!”

Fiadh quickly carts her patient into the tent and grabs the supplies before the obnoxious man could get ahold of her. She knew better from years of experience than to underestimate the man even when drunk off his ass. Just as she’s turning to exit the tent she gets dragged by the back of her shirt by a calloused hand.

“HEY! You think you could hide from me?!” 

Despite the fact Fiadh towered over the man and most of the crew, he easily yanked her down and was dragging her out of the tent. 

“Ughhh… This is gonna be a long day.” Fiadh mumbles.

“What was that?!” 

Fiadh looks up at the red haired man and rolls her eyes. “Shank. Let me go.”

“You’re no fun! We’ve been friends for ages and you still treat me so coldly” Shanks pouts in the most expressively dramatic way possible before smiling at her brightly.

“I brought your shit. Damn drunk.” Fiadh says as she tosses the large bags at the man.

Gasping Shanks looks at her with sparkling eyes, “Booze?! For me? I could marry you right now!”

Fiadh clicks her tongue at the man and says snarkily, “Don’t make me call Makino you perv!” 

Fiadh shakes a finger in Shanks’ face before patting his head. Despite being 2 years older than the man he still had always tried to treat her like a younger woman. It never bothered Fiadh, and she so enjoyed messing with him. They’d known each other since way back when Fia was a pirate and had still kept in touch since she was an important individual to his Yonko status. No one ran on an empty stomach, and he didn’t run without booze.

“Awee… Don’t be a bully MISS Dartraigh!” Shanks liked to emphasize miss for her as she was older than him yet unmarried. 

He’d been happily, and secretly married to his soulmate for many years now. Which Fiadh was only privy to due to him asking her for some favors to keep his beloved safe and hidden. While she rarely did so Fia sometimes made marine documents magically disappear without a trace when she deemed necessary. 

“Mhmm… By the way I have interesting news. Though I’d like to have this chat with some booze in my hand later tonight if that works for you.”

“Hm? Okay.” Shanks looked curious at hell but knew when to wait.

Fiadh waved him off and went back to the tent to look over her patient and get right to business doing some imaging. The x-rays go smoothly and Fiadh can see that he has a number of broken ribs as well as some kind of mass in his lower abdomen. Just as she suspected she’d need to take an MRI for some better imaging of it. Luckily all the equipment was set up and she can quickly get to work. After getting her imaging she sees it’s a box and looks unnatural in the position it’s located. 

Sitting down by her patient she pets his head, he’s on some pretty good pain killers which had made the imaging much easier to complete. But now she needed him more awake so she could try and chat with the uncooperative patient. After 30 minutes he is more alert and is looking at her almost expectantly.

“So… There’s some sort of box in your abdomen. I think it may be causing you some pain as it is cramping your intestine and liver. I can remove it but it’ll require surgery.” Fiadh looks over at him and he seems to be digesting her words in his own way.

“Human, why do you always talk to me like you know I’ll understand?” The black hound huffs out in a low rumbling voice. His pointed ears go flat to his head.

“Hah! I knew you could talk. I talk to you because I CAN understand you. I can understand most animals. Do you have a name by the way? I feel bad calling you by vague descriptions...” Fiadh explains while patting his uninjured shoulder.

The large mutant hound looks shocked and stares with large eyes at Fia. Then he growls showing a rare sign of fear before laying back down with a huff. However, he does not try to speak again.

“Do you want me to do the surgery? Fiadh asks simply.

Her patient gives a swift nod and she nods back. 

“Okay, I’ll set up tonight and we’ll do it tomorrow. I want to spend some more time looking at these images tonight before I jump into this.”

Her patient just nods again before closing his eyes. Taking that as her cue to leave Fiadh quickly makes up a dinner for him then heads out. Once she gets outside she sees all the pirates either unconscious or still loudly chatting and drinking. Fia gets one to point her to their numbskull captain and goes to find him. 

“Miss Dartraighh~!” A clearly drunk Shanks calls. An unimpressed Benn Beckman stands behind him that simply nods at her before returning to his babysitting duties.

“Shanks, gotta drink for me?” Fia calls with a large grin as she sits on a log stump across from Shanks. 

“Of course!” Shanks pulls out an entire bottle of wine and hands it over to Fia.

She accepts it but looks to Benn for a glass before drinking any.

“Okay! So biggest news first. Finally got forced to do business with the whale of the new world sea.” Fia announces with no mirth in her tone.

“Peh! Gross” Shanks calls out petulantly. Even Benn makes a face at this.

“Indeed. Anyway, second big news! One of her sons is my soulmate.” Fia times this perfectly with Shanks taking a drink, on purpose of course. 

His alcohol comes spewing out his nose and mouth as he chokes violently on the drink. Coughing out a lung and all the liquid he inhaled Shanks turns to Fia with saucers for eyes before stuttering out, “N-no fucking way.”

“Yes fucking way.” Fia smirks at the reaction before continuing, “Trust me I’m not amused either, and neither is he. Although I only kinda think he knows? Not sure…” 

Fiadh had kind of come to the conclusion the man was ignoring her because he somehow discovered they were bound together. Despite never trying to hide her mark she knew she also didn’t flaunt it.

“Hm… That’s definitely problematic. Gonna break a lot of men’s hearts with that one.” Shanks says with a sly grin.

Snorting Fiadh retorts, “Yea sure. What men are you thinking of? Never heard of ‘em.”

Benn snorts at her comment, getting an evil eye from his captain.

“Anyway! Which one is it?” Shanks says, suddenly looking excited.

“The oldest.” Fiadh responds back calmly.

“Oh… That one’s got a rep.” He replies while scrunching his face at the comment. 

“Yea, I know. Though I’ve found he’s not completely terrible.”

This get’s Shank’s attention as he raises an eyebrow in curiosity, “Oh? Do tell.”

The reason Fiadh was even opening about all of this was because she kind of hoped Shank’s would have some soulmate information, since he was far more experienced than she is. Fia had only ever had short flings throughout life. Always keeping them from getting messy or interfering with her life too much. Nothing that could ever become as serious as this could.

“So the job I’m doing has led to me traveling with him for quite some time. Like almost half a year, though it’s only been a month so far.” Fia says concisely. 

“He’s been shockingly nice to me, a little rocky start but I was kinda being a bitch. Then he ended up showing me all these super surprising sides to him?” Fia looks down confused at her lap. Taking another long sip of her wine she looks up at Shanks and Benn.

“Ohhh, she’s got it bad Benn!”

Benn finally speaking up says, “Sir, you can’t judge.”

Shanks looks betrayed by the statement as Fiadh just stares in confusion at the two of them.

“Uhhh, What do I have bad??”

“Branwen’s curse!” Shanks says dramatically causing Fiadh to huff unamused.

“Ugh, you’re no fun… You’re just being dragged head over heels into loving the man Fiadh!” Shanks says throwing his hands up dramatically before continuing, “Don’t even try to deny it! Same thing happened to me with Makino!”

Fiadh bites her tongue that was about to refute his comment and says, “Fine… But isn’t it just this damn marks fault?!”

“Well… Maybe? No one knows just how much the mark affects us. Does it really matter? You clearly like the guy, just give him a chance. Though his family sucks ass, be careful of those crazies.” Shanks says with a large grin.

Fiadh sighs, she had hoped this would help. Instead she felt even more internal conflict and confusion. She looks at Benn hoping he could help her but he just shrugs.

“Okay… But he’s been avoiding me for over a week now and has shown zero interest in anything to do with me. I feel it’s just best I put up a wall for now. We probably just met too early which caused the mark to appear!” Fiadh tries to reason.

Shanks looks thoroughly unamused and says, “Uh-huh… And when did this mark appear?”

Fiadh looks irritated at his question but responds, “6 months ago…”

“And you’ve known the man for 2 months max? Yea okay.” Shanks says with a victorious smirk.

Fiadh takes another long drink finishing her glass and refilling it. She was a big woman and could equally handle her alcohol as such. 

“So what do you think I should do?” Fia huffs out in irritation.

“Hmm, try being evil?” Shanks says with a smirk.

Fiadh raises an eyebrow at this, she thoroughly enjoys being evil for her personal amusement.

“Just try and stir him up somehow” He states simply.

“Hm… Okay, I’ll think this over.” Fiadh says. 

After years at sea she had learned that having friends like Shanks to talk to about these topics was always best. Despite being damn near middle aged she was inexperienced in many aspects of life. This is where those friends came handy. The fact Shanks was more of a business partner made this easier to her in some way as she felt no judgement from him and knew she could always pay him back for his help.

The two spent another hour or so conversing about their respective lives, and with slight prying Fiadh got more insight in how Shanks had met his soulmate. It was an interesting and less than conventional love story, but fitting for the goofy pirate captain. He always had an extra dopey, lovestruck face when talking about his destined person. It made Fiadh’s chest clench with a jealous pang, but she of course hid it expertly as she knew it wasn’t hers to yearn after. Despite finding her “destined partner” per Branwin’s decision the cynical woman had little hope for the type of pure love she saw others having. In her eyes she didn’t deserve that kind of love twice in life. 

“Alright, I’m gonna go settle for the night, gotta do a surgery and get done by tomorrow.” Fiadh says while reaching out and patting Shanks on the shoulder.

Shanks doesn’t take that as appropriate and wraps her into one armed hug. Fiadh stares at where his missing arm should be and finds herself speaking before she should.   
“You know Strawhat Luffy, right?” Fiadh states more than asks. She already noticed his hat matched his old one.

“Hmm.. Why?” Shanks looks shockingly sober and cynical in that moment. All their previous goofiness forgotten.

“A certain princess I am close to was saved by him. I owe the kid a debt for that. Also I have a favor to ask him on top of that.” Fiadh says being completely open.

Shanks smiles at that and pats her shoulder saying, “He’s my favorite little monkey child! Total monster kid though, be careful or he’ll try to recruit you.”

Laughing Fia says, “I’m much too old for that! I was just curious if you think he really made it out of marineford alive. Kinda need him alive to pay him back.”

“Oh he’s alive all right. His heart still needs to heal, but he’s alive and kicking.” The pride in Shanks’ eyes as he says this makes Fia happy she’d chosen the kid for Law.

“Good. Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Shanks and Benn wave Fiadh off and she goes back to the medical tent deciding to just set up to sleep there. Taking out her duffel from her patient's cage that was left open anyway, she takes out clothes and a sleeping bag. That night she stayed up late looking through the imaging she got of her patient’s abdomen to make the best hypothetical plan for the surgery she could. Fia also spent quite some time getting the surgery area prepped and all necessary equipment ready.

The next morning she woke up groggy, sore, and feeling almost hungover. It was most likely due to the shitty dreams she’d had all night but that was more of a norm for her. She got up and shuffled out for breakfast then came back to get her patient ready for the surgery. Since his stomach was already empty she just had to briefly let him know her plan then after getting confirmation she knocked him out with some anesthesia.

Once Fia moved her to the table to begin her surgery she swiftly made the necessary incision, just large enough to remove the mystery box. 

Overall the surgery took about an hour as she had to be very careful in removing the box that had attached to some tissue. All the while his vitals beeped on her monitor and the tube down his throat kept him rhythmically breathing. She noticed the box was actually stitched into his abdomen and as she looked around to make sure she didn’t mix anything she realized most of her patient’s insides looked stitched together. Though it looked clean she knew there was no way it was all at homeostasis as it looked mixed from various animals. As she presumed her patient was definitely some sort of experiment. Probably someone trying to make a guard animal mixed between a hound and a lion.

After stitching up his abdomen, and inserting a drain for any fluids she declared it a successful surgery. Fia quickly looks over all his healing wounds from before and is satisfied by how good they look. She could almost take out the knots she put in to hold the larger wounds together. Taking the box off the table she now could analyze exactly what it was. There was a single red light on the outside that she could see, and some unlegible words on the side. It was made of some kind of ultra light metal, maybe aluminum but that wouldn’t hold up so well inside the body. Fiadh decided to break into the little box as curiosity got the best of her.

“What the fuck…” She mutters out.

Inside is a jumble of wires and a motherboard. It seemed like a tracker of some sort, except there was also a plastic container that made up the majority of the box with a needle spring loaded connecting to it. There was only a small amount of liquor left in the container so Fiadh decided to break into that too. Taking out a swab she takes a sample and puts it on a slide then she sniff checks it. Before she can even continue her analysis she can tell what it is.

“This is a fucking posion.” Fiadh says softly. 

She can smell the toxic chemicals from just a short wiff. There seemed to be all sorts of nast shit in it as well. Judging from the tracking mechanism it was likely a way to kill their creation should he escape, as he clearly did. However, they couldn’t just do it a simple way they had to make it drawn out and painful.

The reason Fiadh couldn’t identify the poison was because it wasn’t necessarily a poison. It was just a seemingly random chemical concoction they created to kill the poor animal from the inside out. He was in pain because he had this shit floating around eating his cells and destroying his already unhinged homeostasis internally. Fia felt her blood run hot as she became furious with the inhumane individual that would do such a thing to something they probably created in the first place. 

Sighing to release her anger she turns back to her patient that was due to wake up soon. She works on removing his catheter, tracheostomy tube, and began doing some after care. Fia gently brushes a hand over his head and wraps his body in a fluffy blanket as most patients felt cold while waking out of anesthesia. With some shuddering breaths and deep whining noises her patient opens his eyes and looks up at her before resting again. This time he moves his head willingly onto her lap so she continues to pet his head and rub his ears soothingly. 

Fiadh wasn’t sure exactly how much more time she’d have with her patient, but she felt a kinship with his clearly hard life. He didn’t seem very old either, having young healthy teeth, and clearly having some room to grow judging from his paws. Fia felt her heart clench at the suffering that had been brought upon him, but instead just focused on doing what she could to help him.

It took the hound quite a few hours to fully wake up and even then he was still out of it. Though after some pain killers he was quite hungry. This time Fiadh put some charcoal into the food mixing it with beef broth to make it tolerable. Any leftover chemicals was her main focus on removing so the mutt would be getting a detox whether he likes it or not. She knew this meant having more feces to clean up, but she didn’t care in the least. It was natural as with every other bodily function.

“You feeling better bud?” Fiadh asks softly while brushing her patient's head while setting down his food by him. 

At first there was a guttural noise like he was going to verbally respond but instead he just nods and begins to eat his food.

“Alright good! We gotta start heading back soon, so I’m gonna fix the cage so you don’t get jostled in the least.” Fiadh says with a bright smile.

She then got up and headed out of the tent to go say goodbye to the Red Hair Pirates. After a brief goodbye and a quick hug from Shanks, Fiadh went and set up the cage for travel. She pillow forted the shit out of her patient then put up thick canvas sheets of fabric all around the sides to protect the hound from any light, wind, or any other element during the trip.

After Fiadh was satisfied with her work she wheels her patient out with only a quick wave to the crew and a thanks to their doctor for letting her use his equipment. She’d left a little alcoholic treat on his desk as thanks which she’s certain he will appreciate. Because the crew drank so damn much they couldn’t afford to drink the good stuff and mostly had total garbage on hand unless it was a special occasion. 

It only took Fiadh 30 minutes on the way back to the shore as she hurried with long strides. For some reason she felt lighter than she had for weeks. Maybe the pep talk from Shanks had really helped her, regardless she definitely felt more comfortable about the whole soulmate situation after hearing more of his story. Despite the cynical side of her being never changing on the matter she would continue as she had been.

When she got to the beach Darra was there as she expected, the proud bird was preening his wings and only acknowledged her with an unimpressed side eye. Fia did one more walk around and let her patient know they’d be taking off soon. He had been soundly sleeping post op to recover and only grunted in affirmation without opening his eyes. Fia then secured her traveling cloak and gave Darra a thumbs up that they were ready. She mounted into the saddle and off they went, the small desolate island quickly disappeared behind them as they went back towards Katakuri’s ship.

**_____________**

Once they were in the air Fiadh pulled out the small direct den den mushi and called Katakuri to let him know they were enroute back. She had thought to call earlier, but it just wasn’t her style with these things. Fia loved to show up with as little notice as she could get away with. Some sadistic part of her just loved seeing people scramble at her arrival. 

“Puru puru puru… Puru puru puru… Puru puru puru…” 

Fiadh rolls her eyes and second guesses even bothering to call. She lets the snail ring for another 15 seconds before hanging up and shoving the snail back in her cloak. That was one way to get on her nerves. Give her a direct line to then NOT pick up when she calls. Men. 

“Puru puru puru!” Came the cry from the snail just shoved in her cloak.

Fiadh feels a growl of frustration exit her throat as she answers the snail with irritation, “What?!”

“Uh… Sorry. I was talking to Big Mom and couldn’t just hang up on her.” Came a sheepish response from Katakuri.

“Hm… That’s an acceptable excuse. Alright I’ll let this go for now! By the way, I’m on my way back. Be there in like 6 or 7 hours.”

“Alright. Sorry again for not answering…” Katakuri sounded genuinely upset for not answering which instantly melted any left over irritation Fia had.

“It’s fine! Just eat dinner with me tonight to make up for it. We need to discuss Oka’s diplomats in more detail anyway. They’re a…  _ fun  _ bunch.” Fia said with little joy in her voice at the last part.

Katakuri just grunts in agreement to the arrangement and says, “Ok. See you soon.”

Fia grins cheekily and says, “Only if I don’t make any detours!” 

The snail's eyes actually widen in surprise and Katakuri says, “Do you have another stop to make??” 

“Hmm, no but I can make one up if it’ll piss you off!” She says in a snarky tone. Fia was not just going to forgive him for ignoring her for damn near two weeks, and she would be getting back one way or another. Even if she refused to admit it, it had bugged her when he had purposefully avoided her for that time.

“Do what you must.” Katakuri says gruffly. His unamused tone made Fia giggle.

“Alrighttt, you’re not fun. See ya in a bit dough boy.” Ohhh that one might just stick Fia thinks to herself as the snail's face morphs into pure horror.

“Gacha.” 

Maybe now Katakuri will learn to not mess with his feisty soulmate... Probably not, but one could hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this was a rollercoaster and all over the place... It has a purpose though I promise! How'd y'all like a lil Shanks and crew action? Fiadh's got acquaintances in highh places! As expected with her job, but now we'll be seeing more of just how far reaching that truly is. ANYWAY! Y'all ready for some more emotionally stunted Katakuri awkwardness?! Cause I am, so ready for their awkward ass relationship to get a move on.


	12. A Blooming Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh is haunted by memories of the past, nothing new here. But she's also immediately faced with an even bigger issues. Facing up to her feelings and solidifying her resolve on how she wants to move through this uncharted waters. Katakuri is similarly torn, but is finally beginning to piece together his own thoughts and emotions. Maybe these two dunces can figure something out!

After the sweet satisfaction of so greatly disturbing the annoyance that is Fiadh’s destined partner… She decided to mentally schedule the rest of her evening. She’d be arriving at the ship early afternoon, and factoring in the hour to settle her patient in; she would still have a few hours before her dinner date. Maybe she could try and contact her kid about her final choice and let him know she’d hunt him down after this job. Nah, better to just show up. Despite it being a ways away she always looked forward to the rare chance she got every few years to take a break and actually see the not so little shit.

“Hey Darra, you gonna join me for vacation after this job or you gonna wander off as always?” Fia asks her companion while sitting backwards in the saddle and resting on the vulture-like neck.

“Hrm…” came a noncommittal response from the bird.

“K then. Hey! How you doing poison breath?” Fia calls down to her patient getting carried below her, just along for the ride.

A loud growl came from the covered cage and Fiadh just giggled before deciding to leave them all along before she got dropped into the ocean. Darra had done it plenty of times before. Her mark suddenly was heating up and itching making her shift uncomfortably. For some reason whenever this happened her scar would also ache as if in obstinance in being ignored. As if she ever could. It covered such a large percentage of her left side and had disfigured her face.

For a moment Fiadh thought about what Katakuri must think of her. She rarely cared about what people thought about her, especially not as far as appearances go. Yet for some reason she felt curious about what the proud, yet awkward man might think of her. Honestly she doubted he’d even really care and had only taken her in at face value and seemed the type to care about strength over everything else. She wasn’t anywhere near his level in strength so proportionally his interest would probably be in her use to his fucked up family… Who knows. He’d never seemed to avoid eye contact with her or look at her oddly for the scar anyway, and he himself was a fucking giant.

At times Fia wondered how men could ever look at her with any amount of heat or lust rather than simple, bland respect. Then she remembered that some men are basically animals driven on pure instinct. Only caring about the important bits, which she was not lacking in and regardless of her face she had a nice figure even if her muscles were a tad too built for a woman. They matched her tall frame in her opinion, but she’d been told in the past to slim down to appear more attractive. This had spurred her into more weightlifting training sessions and higher protein consumption of course. She has always been one hell of a spiteful woman.

Fiadh always laughed to herself when she thought about her old crewmates. Sassy Hanh had routinely lectured her on how to be more ladylike and tried to get her to change her training routines. Always failing and always ending with Fia falling asleep during the lecture. She had been a small asian looking girl who was a few years younger than Fiadh and was like a sister on the ship. They had shared a room and despite being polar opposites always got along and spent a large majority of their days together. 

Hanh was the main chef to their small dysfunctional crew, and Fia would just help her as a sous chef when necessary. She was the one who had taught Fiadh most of what she knew now, and was one of many important crew members she had lost many years ago. Whenever thoughts of them intruded into her mind she would then be forced to relive the short flashes of what their end looked like. Everytime it would leave her with an empty feeling in her heart and a burning pain across her face and arm.

A flash of golden hair in the evening sun and a grin so dazzling it was hard to even look at crossed her mind. To which, Fiadh had to forcefully remove herself from her reminiscing when she felt the warm tear streaks become cold on her face from the sea breeze. These intruding thoughts weren’t ones Fiadh fought anymore. Despite not letting herself linger she wouldn’t ever deny them. Except for one. One was always too painful, even in that split second she felt her heart clenching painfully.

Regardless of how much time passed it still felt tender. Her scar had her skin crawling. Fia lifted a hand to her face and raked her nails down the side, clawing down her neck to where it disappeared into her shirt. She felt a small trickle of blood flow from the thin scar tissue down her neck. Grasping her scarred shoulder she took slow uneven breaths for a few minutes.

“Fiadh Dartraigh, relax.” came a deep, calm voice.

“Hahh… Yes DAD~” Fia said snarkily but without her usual energy. 

She knew Darra was just keeping her in the present, which she deeply appreciated. Running her hands through his neck feathers she turned and hugged her loyalist friend and the only one who’d always been there. Unlike a normal vulture Darra’s neck and head was fully feathered and gave him a fiercer look with his angled golden eyes.

“Guess it’s just us, huh…” Fia mumbled.

“Us against the world” Darra mumbled back quietly.

Fia laughed at the fact he still remembered the exact words. The exact words they’d said that shitty ass day in the Grand line decades ago. Their past would always haunt them but Fiadh was strong. She’d never stop from the pain or the past no matter how tempting it might be. Fiadh had almost succumbed that day in letting herself just lay down and die with her crew. Darra hadn’t allowed it and neither had Branwen apparently, as that’s the only sensible reasoning to explain their successful escape. Regardless, there was always something in her living, waking life for her to work for. Now it was her few remaining friends and last bit of family, her shitty kid. Even if he wasn’t her biological child, she had still taken full responsibility of him and would see it to the end.

**_____________**

When they finally landed on the Sweet commanders ship Fiadh jumped off and Darra actually landed on the ship instead of just taking off like usual. He leaned down and headbutted Fiadh right in the chest to which she wrapped her arms as far as she could around his rounded beak and head. The crew were all chattering in the background but Fiadh tuned them out as she wiped her face off in her friends face feathers before waving him off.

The entire ship dips and groans in protest at his departure, but it quickly settles and everything is quiet again. Fiadh turns to wheel her patient down below deck and she catches a glimpse of Katakuri sitting on the ship railing casually spinning a donut on his finger. It would strike her as odd if she didn’t already know the man's obsession with the desert so she just smiles at him tiredly and waves. His attire was the same as ever which Fia couldn’t help but appreciate, she’d never complain about his lack of interest in shirts. 

Katakuri makes no return gesture besides nodding his head slightly. Meanwhile he was wondering why Fia looked so exhausted and why he could see tear stains on her face. Thinking that something happened he followed her below deck as she wheeled her patient to his designated storage room. He said nothing and let her do her thing and once she seemed satisfied with her sleeping patient he kicked off the door frame he was leaning on.

“What’s wrong?” He says more gruffily than he meant to. He’s glad Fia didn’t look offended in the least, just surprised.

“What do you mean?” Fia says with a head tilt.

Sighing, he ruffles his hair. He can’t tell if she’s avoiding the question or genuinely unsure what he’s referring to. This entire situation made him think back to times he’d confront his sister Brulee when she seemed to be struggling or having issues. Maybe that was why she pulled at his heart as she did, besides the whole mark thing of course...

“You… Look tired.” Katakuri ends up deciding that’s the safest thing to comment on.

Fiadh looks shocked once again, “Hm, guess I shouldn’t have expected no one to notice. Just haven’t slept much thanks to the mutt. He had a bit of a rocky surgery and kept me up, then the rest of the time I spent in travel.”

Katakuri nods but can clearly tell she’s hiding lots within that description. He decides not to push it and instead steps towards her closing some of the awkward space between them. Reaching out he ruffles her hair and tilts his head wordlessly asking her to follow. 

“Uh… okay? We still have dinner plans, can it wait till then?” Fia asks only wanting to scrub her face and change her clothes. She’s certain he noticed the tear streaks and was quite glad he hadn’t blatantly brought it up.

Grunting Katakuri mumbles, “It can wait if you want…” He seems a little upset at her question.

“Well just let me change then we can go.” Fia concedes, despite still having some bitterness she didn’t want him to think she was trying to avoid him this time.

Nodding Katakuri moves out of the doorway so Fia could exit. As she passes Katakuri can smell campfire smoke, a distinct medical scent, and earthy forest. A very interesting combination to say the least, he was very curious where she had gone to, but knew it wasn’t his place to pry. The mounting things he knew he couldn’t ask about was frustrating, but he knew he couldn’t complain if he too couldn’t open up.

Fiadh changed quickly into stretchy pants that hugged her legs and her oversized hoodie that she had greatly missed during her trip. She had forgotten it in her rush and relished in the cotton material and nostalgic smell it always had. She also had simple sandals on and her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, strands hanging free randomly from her hasty arrangement of the hair.

“Alright, I’m good to go.”

Katakuri nodded before turning and leading her to the direction of the kitchen. For a moment she wondered if he was going to ask for sweats, but instead he was just picking up a box of what smelt like pre-prepared food before turning and walking a floor lower to a storage room. Fiadh watched in increasing interest as Katakuri grabbed another larger box before walking in the direction of his quarters. She couldn’t smell anything from the other box and it had nothing on the sides to give away what the contents could be.

“Sooo… What’re we doing?”

“Taking a break.” He says curtly, not giving much of anything away. 

Well Fia thinks it’d be a good way to close that weird distance that was there before. Just taking a break and relaxing together, not something they’d ever really done. They’d done plenty of work and even sparred once… Besides that there were some odd interactions in kitchens but always food involved. Seemed about the same this time just without the work involved.

For a moment Fiadh laughed to herself at how awkward this would all be with her just talking to herself. Then they both arrived at Katakuri’s room which when he opened she saw he’d set up a couch and a coffee table where a wall had previously been empty. Looking around nosely Fia also sees on his desk something that makes her jaw drop.

Her old wanted poster.

“No fucking way!” Fiadh says with a gasp. “Where the FUCK did you find this old thing?!”

Katakuri freezes and even seems to stop breathing. There on an old, decomposing, yellow piece of paper was an image of a much younger Fiadh. Clad in a black bikini top, jean shorts, a green sash, and a torn bandana holding back wild red hair. On her chest a jolly roger is clearly tattoo’d between her breasts. A demon-like skull with twisting horns, a pistol, and bone crossing behind it. The mark of the Ryoshi Pirates. Her face and body scar free save for small lines barely noticeable along her pale arms, and she was scowling at the camera man while flying the bird at them. The solid sum of $200,000 bounty and “Wanted Dead or Alive” could be made out under the photo. For a Grandline bounty as a rookie crew it was something she had been fiercely proud of at the time.

“Damn… I was hot back then.” Fiadh whistles as she admires her lost youth. She buries all true emotions related to seeing herself at that time.

Katakuri’s face had gone through all five stages of grief and was now flaming hot in embarrassment. He knew for a fact that was not where he had left that poster, and now Fia thought he was a damn creepy stalker. Fiadh turned and grinned at the sight of the suffering Katakuri. 

Deciding to mess with him even more she says, “You really dug for this, huh? I peak your interest, dough boy~?”

“Fuck…” He says in a pained voice.   
“Hm?? Nothing to say for yourself? Bet you paid big bucks to find this.” Fia says smuggly, knowing damn well how expensive information on her is.

Sighing Katakuri accepts his embarrassing fate, “Yea… Sorry, it was brought up with the background check we ran.” 

His flaming red ears spoke a different story to Fiadh, but she just grins and shrugs. Walking over to the couch she flops down and kicks her feet up with a sigh. 

“Damn, if you were so curious you could’ve just asked me.” She says sarcastically. 

They both knew damn well she would never have answered honestly so Katakuri just snorts before following her to the couch setting the large boxes next to the short table. Opening the lids he pulls out the cheese board the chefs had meticulously put together, then a few dishes containing what he deemed comfort food. Steak, potatoes, some spice noodle dishes, and some vegetable sides. The next box held bottle after bottle of wine, rum, and beer. All expensive and high quality, he offers a bottle of red wine to Fia to go with the cheese and set another white wine bottle on the table as an alternative.

“Ohhh, really outdid yourself!” Fia said honestly, she grinned at the man and said, “Thank you Katakuri, I really appreciate the effort.” 

Fiadh feels a flood of warmth in her chest at the clear effort he had put into the arrangement. He had clearly thought about it and even looked into her tastes in food. For a woman like her, this was more than enough to thoroughly please her, she preferred the little things in life rather than extravagance. 

He nods and says, “You’re welcome. Sorry for digging through your past. It was only on Mama’s orders. The world government really has hidden almost all information pertaining to you...”

“Hahah! I would certainly hope so. They had one job with that shit show. Well it’s nothing new to me, everyone likes to pry into my life. I appreciate you letting me know yourself and that it wasn’t necessarily your choice.” Fia smiles again at him. She was surprised that she kind of felt relieved he’d found that piece of herself. It was the hardest to talk about so it was sort of one less thing to explain.

“You…” Katakuri hesitates for a moment before solidifying his resolve, “You can ask or request anything of me in return, as my apology.”

Fia looked at the man in shock before smirking like a cat that just caught it’s prize, “Hmm, anything?”

Katakuri feels sweat drip down his face before nodding in confirmation.

“Okay… Well you can deny this request since I can think up another! But I want to see your face. You’ve seen the face I’ve kept hidden from the world, and even dug around my past life. I think it’s only fair you share something you keep hidden.” Fia looked down at the floorboards, despite being straight forward to a fault she still understood when she was pushing boundaries, then said, “It’s fine if you don’t want to. We all have things to hide regardless.”

Katakuri looks heavily conflicted and sits staring at Fiadh for what felt like a century to Fia before sighing. He rationalized it was only fair and in reality was of equal value to all the information he had dug up on her. Part of why he had ever so meticulously set this up was as an apology for both ignoring her before and now for prying into her past. Despite all of that reasoning what stood out most to him was the feeling in his heart, he felt he could trust her despite them not being family or tied in any way. He had always been distrubed how he naturally felt she was an equal to him, something not even most of his family could innately receive. 

“It’s not something so amazing. Regardless, I have a question and a term you must agree to first.” Katakuri says in a deep, serious tone.

“Okay.” Fia makes direct eye contact with unwavering magenta eyes.

Katakuri decides to take a deep breath and says, “Do you know we’re… soulmates?” 

Instantly they both have bright red faces, but they retain their eye contact with one another.

“Um… Y-Yes..?” Fia says stuttering in her flustered state. “I… didn’t think you were aware.”

Katakuri smirks to himself as he realizes they both were morons.

“Yea, since your first week at the Cake Chateau.” 

“What the fuck… Took me way longer than that! At least to fully confirm it, I basically knew then too.” Fia looked irritated, but really she was relieved that one thing burning her up inside was finally cleared. Seems they’re really both airing their dirty laundry tonight. Taking a nice swig from the red wine bottle she passes it over to Katakuri before realizing the insinuation behind doing so.

Instead of looking at all bothered by this he says, “Well that was easier than I thought… But I need you to promise me something…”

“Sure.” Fia says nodding easily. 

“Don’t run away..?”

It sounded more like a question than a request so Fiadh simply held out her pinky finger. The most juvenile and fitting thing for the current situation as both adults were absolute children when it came to this awkward situation they were in. Despite feeling the innate draw to one another, and the beginnings of some sort of emotions blooming, neither truly could say they loved the other. However, there was an interest there clearly, and in the end Branwen is never wrong…

Their pinkies intertwined and Fiadh feels the most pleasant warmth spread through her heart stemming from her back that has her genuinely smiling up at the taller man. The smile was so exceptionally radiant Katakuri can only dumbly stare as his jaw goes slack. Internally he can only think to himself that he could get used to this…

“I promise I won’t run! You don’t run from my ugly ass scarred face, so I can at least give you the same courtesy.” Fiadh says with a childish giggle.

Katakuri nods despite feeling the need to rebuttal that her scar was not ugly at all. Figuring his own face would do the trick in proving her wrong he simply reaches up and pulls his scarf down. He closes his eyes expecting a screech or scream of fear. When nothing happens he opens his eyes and sees literal sparkling eyes.

Fiadh looks exactly the opposite of scared. Instead she is reaching up a tentative hand and traces the scar on the left side of his mouth closest to her. Katakuri can’t help but flinch and his mouth opens slightly to which Fia gasps.

“Wow! So cool. Why would you hide this?? Your teeth are badass.” Fia couldn’t help her childish fascination, it was increasingly rare to see any human-fishman crosses especially any that didn’t end up looking ridiculous. Katakuri was far from ridiculous, he looked exceptionally sharp and quite handsome to her.

Katakuri didn’t know how to respond to a compliment like that, but he felt blood rush to his face. Unintentionally he snaps out, “Don’t fuckin lie to me!”

Tilting her head Fiadh looks thoroughly confused at Katakuri. She then scoots closer as if inspecting him closer. Katakuri tries to lean away to no avail.

“So… Does my scar make me horridly ugly to you?” Fia says deathly seriously.

Katakuri’s eyes go wide and he says, “Fuck no! What the hell?”

“Hm, well I think you’re far more handsome than I could have ever imagined.” Fia does not let Katakuri avoid eye contact as she says this and he can tell just how honest she’s being.

“Why..?” He mumbles out. Katakuri was expecting Fiadh to look surprised and slightly disgusted and that being the end of their charade. He couldn’t help but shift his scarf back up a bit.

Fia made no move to stop him but looked immensely saddened by his movement, “I... ughhh, this is embarrassing.” Shaking her head Fia grabs Katakuri’s face and then slaps her cheek and his at the same time while saying, “We’re both morons!”

Katakuri snorts loudly before uncontrollably laughing. Fia grins widely in success at getting the cold man to finally crack. 

“I apologize if you find it oh, so disgusting that I think your face is attractive. Guess you’re saying mine must be ugly.” Fiadh knew damn well she was trapping the poor guy, but she didn’t know any other way to get the stubborn ass to accept her words. She hoped she’d never have to repeat this method, but honestly wasn’t certain…

Katakuri also knew what she was doing, but just accepted it.

“Fine… Your face is very attractive regardless of what you might think. Though your taste is… questionable.” He says with a huff, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t overwhelmingly pleased though.

Fiadh grins cheekily at the man saying, “There we go! You have questionable taste too, so it’s fair. Well… Branwen is the one who’s really fucked up I guess.”

Katakuri smirks at Fiadh and just nods, then he turns and takes a long swig of the wine Fiadh had passed earlier. He felt her shift to sit back and slightly away from him, so he swung his arm on the back of the couch to keep the distance from feeling as far apart as it had before. Katakuri really wasn’t sure about his sanity right now. He hadn’t even shown his face to his younger family members let alone a stranger. Well… Was a soulmate really a stranger after you both admit it? He didn’t think so.

“Can I ask another question?” Katakuri asks tentatively. He felt he was pushing his luck but also felt he deserved it for barring his most coveted secret to the woman. The warmth in his chest proved it was the right thing to do, but regardless he still went through a lot of mental stress for it all.

“Hm… Sure, I don’t see why not. We can just ask questions back and forth, seems the best way to open up to one another. Though we both can have a line we can draw in which we change topics.” Fiadh says with a grin. She felt like she was back in her 20s playing similar question games with her crew members whenever they’d recruit someone new. It made her nostalgic in a good way.

“Okay. So even with my families searching we found nothing about you having a charge, or anything about an adopted kid…” Katakuri felt embarrassed talking about something he still felt lingering jealousy over, but he truly didn’t find anything on the topic which made him wonder if she had just lied to cover it up.

Fiadh laughed loudly before saying, “Of course I would hide that perfectly! You’re the first person I’ve ever even referenced him as anything besides a business partner. I do view him as my kid, but he’s an adult now and has his own life he lives. Although as his guardian I make it my duty to embarrass him!”

Fia was honestly thoroughly enjoying being able to see Katakuri’s face, and actually see his full expressions. She noticed how his teeth slightly stuck out and had to fight the urge to trace his scars again. It was odd to her how she could find his face so attractive, she’d never been one interested in looks, but she couldn’t help but just stare at him.

Katakuri was forced to just take her words at face value as she clearly wasn’t going to divulge any more information on the topic of her charge, “Ah, makes sense. Secrecy does protect loved ones.”

“Precisely. So, my turn! Who do you presume your mother is trying to marry me off to in your family? Praline cued me in on it and she mentioned Oven, but yuck… No offense, but he’s annoying.” Fiadh’s disgusted face made Katakuri chuckle.

He felt relieved at her clear distaste towards his brother, guess he’d have no competition. “Hm… Yes she discussed that with me. I diverted her attention so she’s dropped it for now.”

“Okayy… You are aware I won’t marry into your family, correct?” Fiadh says with a sad smile.

Katakuri has to reign in his emotions for a moment and rationalize that her comment is perfectly sensible. However, he can’t help his gut clenching and wanting to ask why she would just blatantly refuse. Clearly it was because of her job, and her distaste for the Big Mom Pirates, of which he couldn’t blame her. 

Unable to fully filter himself Katakuri says, “So, no exceptions then?”

Fiadh feels her heart clench at the large man’s puppy like sad face, but she has to stay firm in this. “As much as I wish I could… I can’t marry into the Big Mom Pirates, my morals and values are simply not in align with theirs.” 

“Ah… That’s what I figured. So why are you amusing me with talking about our marks?” Katakuri couldn’t help the frustration in his voice.

“Hm, well you are nothing like the rumors, nothing like most of your family, and I see no point in denying Branwen at this point in my life.” Fiadh says in a matter of fact way. She sees with sad eyes Katakuri had yet again pushed his scarf back up, and realizes how much her words hurt him.

“Family is everything to me.” Katakuri says simply before pulling his arm back to his side and thinking to himself how he wished he could actually beat Big Mom himself. 

Sadly even if he was powerful he was no match for his Mama. He’d protect his siblings fiercely but even he knew just how twisted his mother had become in her tyrannical rise to power. The fact that his affiliation to his family was the defining reason his soulmate couldn’t in true earnest hope for a relationship with him… Tore him up more than he expected. He felt denied of the last hope he had of some happiness in his life. The man hadn’t even fully realized how much hope he had put in his soulmate, but he couldn’t help his desire for what he saw his siblings having.   
Sighing, Fiadh reaches a hand out in front of Katakuri’s downtrodden sight and clarifies herself, “Right now isn’t a good time for me to make promises that far down the road. We both feel this innate pull to one another, yea? I don’t want to deny it, I also don’t want to refuse any emotions I might develop towards you. I just can’t promise you any public connection such as marriage due to both of our positions.”

Katakuri puts his much larger hand into hers and intertwines his fingers. The warm, happy feeling it filled him with clears his muddled mind. Oh… She wasn’t denying him. She was just trying to be a responsible adult, unlike him. He felt like a petulant child, and flushed in embarrassment at his own actions.

“I’m sorry… I got upset and tunnel visioned.” He says softly.

Fiadh reaches up with her other hand and ruffles his hair, “Well why don’t we just see where this goes?” She grins at the man while her ears burn red in embarrassment.

Katakuri’s face flushes crimson and he can’t form any response for a moment. “So we’re giving it a try while knowing we can’t really be together?”

“Hmm… Yup! Until something changes at least.” Fiadh laughs, while she feels guilty at not being able to promise anything further than this. She also felt certain Branwen wouldn’t have put the two together for no reason. Fia knew she just had to have faith that something would change for the better.

“If you’re giving me permission now, can I actually court you properly? So long as it’s kept quiet and secretive?” Katakuri asks, eyes looking curiously at the grinning woman.

Fiadh flushes and just nods her head. She now realized their hands were still intertwined and now kind of wants to take her hand back out of embarrassment. Katakuri tightens his grip as if realizing she might take her hand away. Instead to avoid eye contact Fiadh begins stuffing her face with cheese on the board in front of them to try and bury her embarrassment, oh how the man next to her enjoyed turning the tables for once.

In this moment Katakuri felt this feeling of rushing head first into whatever this was… But in reality they’d known each other for a few months now and spent damn near everyday together cooped up on a boat.  Katakuri had felt comfortable around the woman since day one and that feeling had only grown since. Any previous skepticism had been blown away by the woman’s translucent personality and way of speech. She was never one to beat around the bush and spoke her mind even around a man like himself. Fia didn’t run at his face, or at his harsh mannerism, or even when he had ignored her… She was truly one of a kind and he couldn’t help but think about just how different Fia was from anyone he’d ever met before. Unlike his family she didn’t hold expectations for him, and he could be as close to genuine as he’s ever been in his life.

“Alright. Let’s just see where this goes.” Both share a similar sentiment in going with the flow it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oop... Hope I gave everyone some whiplash! Hahahhh, I really was torn on deciding if I wanted to go with the truly long route to romance or not for these two... But frankly it wouldn't fit Fiadh or Katakuri's characters very well. They're both the type to face things head on! Hope you all enjoy some actual movement on the relationship front, let me know what you think. More whiplash ahead for us all! (The irony here is that I have whiplash currently from a car accident (: fml)


	13. Hugs are Nice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh finally gets a name from poison breath. Oka is fast approaching and stressing her the fuck out. Why does Kuzan keep fucking calling?! AND WHY IS KATAKURI SO HOT?! Fuck man Fiadh really can't catch a break...

Fiadh wasn’t entirely certain what she had expected. She wasn’t so frivolous to expect a complete change in her dynamic with Katakuri, but she also didn’t expect no change at all. The next morning Katakuri didn’t even so much as greet her when she passed him. Maybe it made it easier for the giant man to comprehend showing his face willingly for the first time in decades. For her Fia was annoyed, but tolerant. She didn’t want for him to suddenly act ass over heels for her, but there was no change at all that she noticed in how he interacted.

The woman couldn’t help but bitterly think of his bold statement of courting her properly, and even asking permission to do so. Childishly she found herself making faces at him but never vocalized her discontent. Part of her wondered if that night of boldness had even happened at all or if she had some realistic hallucination. 

Meanwhile the awkward, intimidating looking man simply wasn’t entirely certain how to follow through on his bold statement. He felt comfortable where they had been before but this uncharted territory was daunting to him. Of course he’s had his share of romantic flings, but they had always been women pursuing him. Not him trying to pursue them in any way. They were also less than a day from their next destination.

Fiadh had continued her routine care for her patient who was finally looking significantly better, and even had begun walking around. He still rarely spoke to her except to request specific foods, cheeky brat… But Fia always enjoyed the warm feeling at a successful case. She had lost many patients over the years, but regardless of success they all lived on with her. It was almost time to find a new island home for her large patient, she could tell he was outstaying his welcome with some of the crew who were thoroughly uncomfortable with him being aboard. He was a massive hybrid animal of unknown origins, so Fia wasn’t surprised. Regardless of their discomfort she would still take him with her above deck to sunbathe and get fresh air whenever she could.

Fiadh had also been answering or making constant calls on various den den mushi’s. Quite a few to her shitty kid too, they’d been fighting the past few days over her suggestion on which crew he should ally with. Apparently the monkey boy hadn’t impressed Law overwhelmingly, though he did confirm her suspicion that the boy was definitely alive. Fia had known of Law’s trip to Marineford, but didn’t know he had picked up Strawhat from the battlefield. The news clearly purposefully skimmed over that, and she knew better than to unnecessarily fret over the boy, he’d just ignore her calls completely if she did that.

It would be interesting to see how these two very different crews and captains mix. In all honesty it was mostly Fiadh sticking her nose into Law’s life and hoping this could help him grow and heal. But she’d never tell that to the dark and brooding child. 

She had also confirmed their arrival to Oka, and had to prepare her very… interesting attire that was required in the semi-intricate court system on the island. The ambassador she had been coordinating with was very helpful in informing her ahead of time what to expect. Though it would be quite the formal affair, she felt a surprising amount of hospitality. She’d never directly gone to do business with Oka’s ruling family so it was somewhat uncharted territory. 

Fia couldn’t help but groan at the thought of trying to explain the clothes Katakuri would have to wear. It wasn’t exactly the man's typical “lack-of-shirt” style and he’d definitely get fed up with it quickly. Fiadh couldn’t help but mentally note how much she’d subconsciously been appreciating the larger man’s sculptured torso being on display until she had to think of tailoring an acceptable outfit for him. A true shame for women everywhere.

“Hey poison breath, let's go back below deck.” Fia says to the black hound sprawled out with its tail lazily thumping on the deck. His nub like horns caught the sunlight and Fiadh’s eye as she notices they’ve noticeably grown in length since his improved diet and lack of poison trying to kill him.

The only response she got was a grumpy huff, before he picked up his large head waiting for her to lead the way.

“You know it really wouldn’t kill you to open up a bit more. You’re as boring as Darra to talk to.” Fia says huffily. Meanwhile the crew looks at her like she has a third eye growing out of the back of her head. Fiadhs certain they think she’s a batshit crazy lady talking to the beast following at her heels. 

“Maybe if you got rid of that disgusting nickname I’d contemplate that.” The hound shockingly grumbled back a response. His deep voice still shocked Fiadh every time but she grins a wide toothy smile down at him in victory.

“Well maybee~ if my stubborn ass patient told me his name when I asked I wouldn’t have to use nicknames!” Fiadh responds in a snarky tone.

“Don’t have one.” He says gruffly and in a sour tone. 

Fiadh pauses for only a moment before saying, “That won’t do at all! Well what about Asra?”

“Does it have a meaning..?”

“Yup, ‘one that travels at night’ seems fitting for your coat of fur and piercing eyes.” Fia says with a large grin.

The large hound goes completely silent and seems to contemplate the name. After reaching the room he stays in he simply nods his head to Fia as if confirming the name was acceptable. Fiadh stayed silent since it seemed the hound needed to sort through his thoughts first.

“Glad you like it! I’ll be back with lunch in a bit Asra. Get some rest till then.” Fiadh leaves after patting his head. He’d come to fully accept her casual, friendly contact after his surgery.

Heading straight for the kitchen Fia collects her patients lunch and her own before turning to head out. None of the chefs greet her in the afternoon as they are always busy rushing to finish the crew's lunch and prepare Katakuri’s merienda. As Fiadh heads back she sees the familiar disheveled, maroon hair walking towards her. 

“Good evening Katakuri.” Fiadh says calmly with a smile on her face that didn’t completely reach her eyes like normal.

“Ah, hello.” He says with bleary eyes. Despite it being well past noon he had clearly just woken up, and looked very confused.

“I’ll stop by later this evening to discuss Oka’s nobles briefly with you and drop off the clothes you’ll be required to wear.” Fiadh says while continuing her walk back to her patient, “See you then.”

The dismissal was clear so Katakuri simply nods his head. He was becoming painfully aware of how inexperienced he truly was in the field of romance... Maybe he should call one of his married siblings for advice. Even then he didn’t feel comfortable opening up to any of them about his personal life.

Katakuri turned and watched the woman walk away and wondered if she would accept another spar with him. Maybe if he let her knock his head into the deck boards a few times he’d have a spark of a clue on what to do now. Fighting was something he could do, all this politics, and emotions stuff? Absolutely not. 

Sighing the man couldn’t help but wonder what the hell he was even doing. He was still staring at the hallway Fiadh had long since disappeared from, firmly stuck in his own head. Damnit, if only he’d listened to his siblings when they’d talked to him about their spouses over the years.

Elsewhere, Fiadh was sitting by Asra eating peacefully and reading a book that she’d procured on Oka’s court system. There were 5 ruling families that ran the country through generational inheritance with the assistance of a democratic system below them that aided in politics and country affairs. 

The ruling families were more of figureheads now that mostly just broke tied votes, rarely vetoing anything ever, and helped keep the peace within the country itself. Whereas the challenge for Fiadh would come from the actual members of the court who held the true power of the vote. 

It was expected for anyone visiting the court with an appeal to wear their traditional garbs, a very strange looking head garb, and to be completely barefoot with nothing in your hands, or pockets. The bottom half of the clothing looked like a hakama to Fiadh, yet the top part was what distinguished men from women. The country was quite sexist in the fact few women held any power and did not have equal footing as men in the country itself. Though Fiadh wouldn’t respect that aspect of their “culture” in the least, but she would respect what she knew was necessary. 

The females wore a skin tight long sleeve shirt with a wrap overtop that went over one shoulder, whichever way you wore it also signified if you were married or not as well. Fiadh felt a growing headache as she realized just how convoluted this mess would be. Luckily all Katakuri had to wear was a pre-prepared button down shirt that was long sleeve and the color on the cuffs was all that signified the man’s marital status. 

Fia already had her official request for business prepared to give to the courts. This way she could minimize her interaction with them and lower the chance of fucking something up accidentally. However, it didn’t completely free her from the confine that is the worst part of her job… Politics and socializing. She’d already been hinted to that they planned on holding a ball if the business deal is a success. Meaning she’d have to also figure out what the hell she was supposed to wear for that when she arrived at Oka. 

They would arrive at first light tomorrow, meaning there was less than 16 hours for Fiadh to get Katakuri and herself straightened out. The clothes she had been sent were an atrocious color for her and Katakuri’s hair. However, clashing colors were the least of her worries as she tried to understand how the hell she was supposed to fix the clothing in the proper manner. Females had so many fucking steps for absolutely no reason and it was why Fia despised misogynistic societies.

The sound of sharp knocks on the door shocked her, no one ever travelled to the part of the ship she kept Asra at. It’s why she did most of her work here. Speaking of the hound, he passed out after eating, completely unaware of Fiadh’s struggles. 

“Yes?”

“It’s me.” came Katakuri’s deep voice.

Fiadh got up grabbing her notebook and book so as to not disturb her patient. She quietly opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

“What’s up?” She asks with a small head tilt.

“Uh, didn’t have anything going on so thought we could discuss Oka now.” Katakuri said, his visible ears going slightly pink as he thought about how adorable Fiadh was when she tilted her head while looking up at him. He also took note of the casual clothes she was wearing. Despite clearly dressing for comfort he couldn’t help but appreciate how the plain grey long sleeve shirt clung to her shape and the casual black sweatpants hung off her hips and pooled at her sandal clad feet clearly a few sizes too large. 

“Sure, where you wanna chat? Asra is resting right now so can’t stay here.” Fiadh says, keeping a low volume.

“My room? Um, my merienda will be soon and I wanted you to join me for it.” Katakuri’s ears were not flaming red as he realised he’d been staring at a strip of flesh visible above the woman’s pants. He’s so distracted he doesn’t even question the new name Fia uses for her patient.

“Sure! I just ate lunch, but I could totally use some tea and sweets.” Fiadh says excitedly, she silently hoped to get to see the man’s face and watch it as he enjoyed his favorite foods.

Katakuri just nods and turns to lead the way, he silently drags a hand down his face and feels a pleasant tingle down his spine as his mark heats up a degree by the second. They reach his room and he has to choke down the desire to itch where the mark is located. He silently wonders if Fiadh has the same feeling, as he holds the door open for her he sees the shorter woman grin up at him but as she walks in she itches where her mark is located. Katakuri feels a smirk reach his face as he realizes it’s likely a shared feeling.

“Feel free to sit wherever.” Katakuri says.

“Okay~! UGH!” Fiadh finishes as she flops onto the couch face first.

Katakuri stares wide eyed at the strange woman as she releases another groan.

“Is… something wrong?” Katakuri asks, wondering if he’s accidentally opening a mini pandora’s box.

“Oka, is what’s wrong.” Fia huffs out words muffled by the couch cushion, “They have the most ridiculously strict customs and traditions, and are soo beyond misogynistic.”

“Ah… Can I help?”

“Yes, wear what I tell you to tomorrow, and don’t laugh at what I’m forced to wear.”

Katakuri just nods his head as though he understands as he’s been conditioned to do by his sisters. When he looks over Fiadh is holding up her journal for their trip still face down. He walks over and flips to where the woman has bookmarked and begins reading up her abridged version of the rules he’d have to follow. His eyebrows knit and he’s certain there’s even more of a scowl then his normal resting face. 

Though he can tell he’d have no real issues except the necessity of a shirt, however, Fiadh would have a significantly harder time. While men seemed to be able to speak freely within reason women weren’t even allowed to speak up unless spoken to first in court. Then seeing the intricate rules on clothing he felt pressure build at his temples. Hopefully Fiadh could make sense of the nonsense because he definitely couldn’t.

“Um…” Katakuri dragged a hand through his hair realizing why Fiadh was face down on his couch still.

A knock at the door saved Katakuri from further straining his eyes rereading the same page of convoluted sentences. 

“Come in.”

The chefs rushed in setting up a folding table with a buffet worth of sweets and massive tea pots of tea. Katakuri dismissed them with a wave of his hand and quickly realized how he screwed himself over. Even if Fiadh hadn’t reacted to his face there was no way she would be able to overlook his horrendous table manners and disgusting way of eating. However, judging from Fiadh still laying defeated on his couch… He doubted she’d be getting up anytime soon.

Fia found herself accidentally slipping into unconsciousness as she became overly relaxed on the comfortable couch. The couch smelt like sea salt and syrup likely from sweets Katakuri dropped on it. She was also far more tired than she had thought. Recently dreams had plagued her every night, both good and bad. All spurred by the troublesome man in the very room she was dozing off in. 

Katakuri couldn’t wait any longer so he pulled his scarf off and wasting no time he shoved a tray of donuts into his mouth. His jaw unhinging and stretching as always, and he crammed the food scarfing it down at a terrifying rate. One might even wonder if he even tasted the food. The man always did though, he savored every sweet despite the manner he ate them. 

His eyes widen as he realizes that the sweets tasted better than normal. Almost on par with the ones Fiadh made him previously. Eyebrows knitting in confusion and he glances over to Fia who is softly snoring. The only conclusion he could make was that it was caused by her presence. Maybe her being around for his meriendas wouldn’t be such a terrible idea… Although he’s saying this while she is clear napping away on his couch leaving him with little concern on her seeing him currently. 

He made a mental note to check with the chefs just to make sure they hadn’t done anything different from normal as he could just be jumping to conclusions. Wandering over to Fiadh he sits on the coffee table in front of the couch with a large platter in each hand. One holds large finger donuts, some filled, others plain. The other holds large macaroons, a rainbow of color.

Fia’s head had rolled to one side giving him a good look at half her face. Though that was mostly obscured by her hair. Reaching out he subconsciously moves strands away from her face. 

“Hm…” 

Katakuri jerks away as Fia’s face scrunches at the light contact her shifting hair caused and her face ends up back in the cushion. The large man held his breath in fear that she would wake up and sat back onto the table. After a minute had passed he continued to eat the donuts and macaroons while staring at the shifting colors in Fiadh’s hair. Her fiery hair was as interesting to watch as an active flame, she had such a wide array of colors he couldn’t comprehend just calling it red. There was blonde, brown, orange, and even a hint of burnt burnt burgundy. 

Her slow breathes filled him with a sense of calm he found fascinating. He could honestly say he’d never felt so at peace while around another human being. Regardless of familial status, ever human set him on edge. Yet Fiadh completely went under that radar he’d meticulously built through decades of practice. He couldn’t even pick the woman up while using his kenbunshoku haki that was strong enough to even let him see into the future. 

Katakuri couldn’t help his travelling eyes that took note of the tight jeans she was wearing that clung to her legs, defined muscles that showed Fiadh’s strength. The plain grey sweater she wore hung off one shoulder and she seemed to swim in it in comparison to the pants. It looked soft and he almost reached out to feel the material. She had thrown her flip flops off her feet when she flopped onto the couch. After his eyes swept over the woman again he couldn’t deny the physical attraction he had to her on top of his general respect for the strong willed, crazy woman. A dull heat filled his lower abdomen and he tore his eyes from her to take deep slow breaths. The last thing he needed was to embarrass himself even more getting a stiffy staring at his fated person's sleeping figure.

Under his breath, quieter than a whisper he says, “You could become my seastone so fucking easily…”

Despite the fact that revelation should have terrified him as it did when they first met, he still felt completely at peace if not for his sweat caused by his physical reaction. Regardless of the fact Fiadh made it clear he shouldn’t get his hopes up he felt it was well within his rights as her soulmate to covet this feeling. Even if they never could be more… He’d be okay with just having her presence like this.

Katakuri then noticed he’d finished half his merienda snacks, even using his devil fruit ability to ferry more of the desserts to himself. 

He left a plate to the side of him on the short table with an assortment of the remaining sweets as well as one of the tea pots he had yet to touch. Though he didn’t think much of it while doing it now he stopped to stare at the collection he had accumulated. It wasn’t like him to so naturally share his sweets, or act at all in the manner he had been. While looking down at Fiadh he couldn’t bring himself to really care.

“Puru puru puru”

The loud ringing of a den den mushi made Katakuri jump and set his heart racing. 

“Ugh… Don’t wanna.” Came a grumble from Fiadh before she arose from the dead like a zombie to answer the incoming call.

Katakuri stared with wide eyes as the half asleep Fiadh yanked the receiver off the small snail that had been tucked away.

“Hello.” Came a snappy, pissed response from the woman. 

Fia looked up and grinned at Katakuri though even mouthing thank you to him as she noticed the plate set to the side for her. Though she didn’t bat an eye at it she appreciated being able to see the man's full face again. She found it extremely attractive, especially cute in the moment since she could see some sort of sweet stuck on his cheek by one of his sharp teeth that stuck out.

The large man felt very naked without his scarf at that moment. He reaches up to shield his face a bit but nods to Fia. Moving away from the table he walks to where he had left his scarf on the merienda table that had been set up.

A familiar voice came from the snail, “Ah~, you always answer pissed when I call.”

“Hm, then stop calling.” Fia feels her mood dampen as she sees Katakuri place the scarf securely around his face again.

“Well this time it’s for business, so I’m so sorry~ for the inconvenience.” Came the annoyingly sarcastic drawl from the other side.

Fiadh’s face twisted in annoyance at the thought of more work though it also held concern.

“What do you need and how classified?”

“Hmmm, does the anti-social food nerd actually have someone around? Ararara~! This is new!”

“Fuck off icy.” 

“I’ll call back later, have funn~” 

“Gacha”

“FUCKIN-” Fiadh cuts herself off and sighs in irritation, her hands rake down her face in exasperation.

“That seemed… Interesting.” Katakuri felt a knot of jealousy grow tighter. He knows that’s the same person who Fiadh had been talking to before. 

“He never fucking calls, except when it’s most inconvenient.” Fiadh huffs again grabbing a sweet off the plate and shoving it into her face. A very unladylike display, but she couldn’t give less shits at the moment. 

Katakuri felt heat bloom in his chest at the site of the woman enjoying the desert in just a familiar manner. He had to cough to clear his throat before he could speak again.

“Um… Who..?” He couldn’t form the complete question as he was thoroughly embarrassed at the growing jealousy he was feeling towards a completely unknown person. 

“Hm?” Fiadh says looking up with half a macaroon sticking out of her mouth. “Oh, that was a friend of mine. He’s a marine, well used to be… Saw on the news recently some shit went down last week. I’ll have to catch up with him later.”

The woman didn’t seem overly stressed but in reality she had thoroughly panicked when she saw Kuzan had fought Sakazuki of all people. She knew for a fact he didn’t get out of that fight in one piece. No one fought Sakazuki without proof of the fight. Her scar ached and felt like the entire length of it was burning as her thoughts wandered.

“Ah… Close friend then?” Katakuri felt even more curious, and surprisingly as he watched her talk about this person he felt less jealous. Fiadh wasn’t hiding her true emotions, instead they were clearly on her face. She was concerned, and reminiscent. 

“Yea, kinda.” Fiadh says with a shrug. She really wasn’t able to talk much about her marine contacts with a notorious pirate. “Anyway, did you read my notes for Oka.”  
Katakuri avoided eye contact, instead finding an interesting knot in the wood on the wall of his cabin.

“Hm, yeaa understandable… At least skim it?” Fia said with a raised eyebrow.

Katakuri nodded in response moving over to sit next to Fiadh on the couch made to accommodate giants such as himself. He then noticed that the large couch almost made Fia seem small, though he was aware of the woman being unnaturally tall for a normal person.

“Good! Then I’ll just fill in the gaps.” Fiadh then began prattling on about Oka and all of what she had been reading up on the past few hours. By the time she was finished it was nearly dinner time yet neither was hungry from the constant snacking of sweets and ever flowing pots of tea.

“Well that should be good enough. We’ll probably be stuck in Oka a bit longer than Shiratamako Island. Afterwards, we’ll have a couple day hop to our last island in the New World! Unless something changes with that other tentative one…”

Katakuri just silently nodded along to Fiadh’s rambling that he found he had endless patience for. 

“Would you like to spar sometime?” He accidentally blurted out what had been in the back of his mind all day completely derailing the woman. Fuck… He should have asked her for a date, not to fucking fight. The thought of sparing again was so much more comfortable for him though.

“Uh, yea sure? Guess I should… Gonna get fat eating all these sweets that you always have.” Fia grins up at the man making his ears go red. She wished he hadn’t put his scarf back on since it was thoroughly entertaining seeing his face flush completely. But Fia would of course go at the pace the man set for that.

They spent a bit longer chatting, aka Fiadh rambling more about Oka to Katakuri who nodded along. She then left to go get the clothes he’d need for their fast approaching arrival from her room. While there she eyed her own outfit with disdain but quickly went back to Katakuri.

“No, you need to put your arm through this hole!” Fiadh directed the larger man with flailing arms. It felt like wrangling a toddler the size of a mountain for her. 

Katakuri’s ears burnt in embarrassment as he continued to struggle with the large shirt Fiadh was trying to shove over his head. They had both agreed that he needed to test out putting on the clothing first. Katakuri had changed into the pants after shoving Fiadh out into the hallway and then let her fuss over the top. He had been against changing in front of Fiadh but when she hadn’t batted an eye at it he became irritated. The thought of Fia not seeing him as a man annoyed him to an alarming degree. 

Whereas Fiadh simply was in work mode, and desperately trying to reign in any other emotions. Unaware of each other's internal struggle the dense morons continued their fight with the silk garment. Eventually they figured it out and Fia rushed about Katakuri straightening out the cloth and fixing a sash around his waist. When she reached around him his entire body tensed, and even Fiadh felt her ears burn hot. 

“Sorry, was trying not to make you uncomfortable…” Fia mumbles.

“You’re fine… It’s.. nice.” Katakuri mumbled back hiding as much of his face as he could in his scarf.

“Oh… Yea, I agree.” Fia responds a bit louder.

Katakuri glances down and can’t help but wrap his arms around the shorter woman. The temptation was too steep, and he got to feel just how soft her sweater really was. It felt like cotton and wool mixed into a ball of warmth. Fia’s face completely flushed red yet she still kept her arms wrapped around his torso holding the sash. Though she only came up to the bottom of the man's rib cage in their current position it still felt like that cliche, metaphorical puzzle pieces clicking into place. 

Against his control he felt a content grumble in his chest, the vibration made Fia jump and look up at the mortified man. The previously forgotten heat had returned seeking revenge, and Katakuri prayed to Branwen herself, Fiadh didn’t notice.

“That was cute.” Fia says with a completely straight face before breaking down laughing. She curled forward in her laughter letting her face completely rest against the man's torso.

Katakuri didn’t think his body temperature could increase anymore than it had, but it did. He felt itchy from the discomfort his embarrassment caused but he just looked away from Fia without letting her go. A light push on his chest sent his arms flying away from her though. Fiadh finished tying the sash and simply grinned up at him with the most brilliant smile he’d ever seen, though he honestly felt that way every time she smiled like this at him.

“You really are a sweetie deep down, huh?”

“You’re probably the only one in the world crazy enough to say that…” Katakuri grumbled at the woman. He was well aware in that moment the only person he would ever be this soft with would be her. 

“Awee, that’s okay. You’re the only one I’m this nice to too.” Fia grins back at him and Katakuri can’t help feel bitterness in the fact that it was a lie.

“No, you are to your kid.”

“That’s different and you know it.” Fiadh stares back at him in challenge before saying, “Katakuri whether you realize it or not I treat you differently. I can’t seem to control it, and it’s frustrating as hell at times, but I also don’t want to fight it.”

Oh… She felt the same. 

“Ah… I...the same.” Katakuri couldn’t form the right words to explain that he agreed with her and it was the same for him. He wasn’t unsure, he wasn’t stuttering, the words just refused to come out.

“I know.” Fia smiles her brilliantly bright grin back up at him.

Despite his awkwardness and the fact he couldn’t communicate worth a damn… Fiadh didn’t seem to mind. Regardless of his botched attempts at trying to convey his confusing ass emotions, Fia seemed to have endless patience for him. Yet again he felt appreciation towards Branwen for sending such a woman to him. Though he supposed that was more his Mama’s doing in a literal sense.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow morning at first light! Let’s get this shit show over with.” Fia lightly hits Katakuri’s chest with the back of her hand as she moves away from him. She had completely dispelled the moment they had been having, but he was okay with that. Any longer and he probably would’ve let something stupid exit his mouth.

She had successfully tied the sash on him without his notice and he was not standing in the full traditional Oka garb. The top and bottom were primarily black with gold trim and accents. The gold showed an unmarried man’s status, while black was used to show he was an outsider and not from Oka. The sash was an off-white, the color of the sash simply displayed their purpose as visiting diplomats. All made of silk from Oka.

“Goodnight, rest well.” Katakuri reached out and ruffled Fiadh’s hair and accidentally let his hand graze against the woman’s left cheek as he lowered his hand. His magenta eyes bore into the woman’s grey ones with an unknown intensity and fire.

Fiadh’s scarred cheek felt ablaze, but in a completely different way from normal. Her eyes went wide as she nodded her head and left the room in a rush. She felt a heat in her abdomen she hadn’t felt in many years. The goofy brute had unknowingly turned her on with the briefest of touches. It had really been the look in his eyes. The heat that she saw there that sparked her own.

“I’m fucked…”

Watercolor drawing of Fiadh (I don't normally draw humans so excuse how shit it is)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, was straightening out the story a bit. Needed to solidify the last of the stops so they made sense. Figured out how to add images btw, so that'll be a thing from now on! Also I'm an impatient mofo so be prepared for some NSFW shit. I'm also not sorry at all for the cavities this story probably is giving people! (: 
> 
> Also it was Kuzan. Not like I was really being that sneaky...  
> I like the icy man, what can I say.
> 
> ALSO ALSO, please:  
> Leave a comment so I know you crazies still read/like this POS fic that I love so much :') thanks  
> I crave attention as sustenance to continue. Love y'all, byeee!


	14. Playing Nice is Lame Anyway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh really is the biggest feminist of them all... Oka is in for a real fucking shock with this one!  
> Also Katakuri is a jealous bitch.

The following morning Fiadh awoke around 4am like a zombie arising from the grave. She had gotten maybe three hours of sleep thanks to Kuzan. They had both talked long into the night and even when she finally let her Den Den Mushi sleep she was kept up from her mind. Fia knew she would have to take another intermediate trip to go see him, and logically it would be in between the fourth and fifth stop as that would give her optimal time to make the flight to him. However, she wasn’t sure she could wait that long. Though Kuzan had brushed her worries off she could tell he wasn’t doing as well as he claimed after his fight, and something had definitely happened.

Now he was a deserter from the marines and alone in the New World. Fiadh owed him a lifelong debt and she’d be damned if she didn’t pay it back. The only reason she had even kept ties with the marines was because he had pushed her to do so. She was in no position now to break said connections, but the temptation was beyond any logical decision now that it was Sakazuki who was the one calling the shots. 

Regardless, shitty ice for brains demanded Fiadh stay away for now so she would. Even if she wanted to she had a quickly approaching island to worry about. They’d be making land in just a few hours and she had stupidly elaborate clothes to sort out. Sighing loudly Fiadh dragged her long tangled hair over her shoulder standing in her pajamas of a large black shirt and shorts that disappeared under the shirt's hem. Throwing on some sandals Fia wandered to Asra and offered a morning stroll which he nodded and silently followed her.

Above deck they both meandered, following the railing as they lapped the large ship multiple times. It was pleasantly warm despite a lack of any sun yet to crest the horizon. The sea was calm, all fitting right into Oka’s region norm. Fiadh looked forward to seeing the cherry blossoms and scenic rolling hills they were so known for.

The groggy night crew stared at Fiadh with little to no recognition. Though some waved to her in greeting most avoided her as they noticed the large beast walking with her. Even hardy New World pirates seem wary of him. Fia gave them no mind and made a mental note to do something for the crew for their hard work. She could feel eyes burning the back of her head so she lazily turned searching for the cause.

Across the ship she saw Katakuri looking far more awake than she felt, half dressed in his normal attire, with his scarf snuggly around his neck, and arms crossed over his barred chest. He was staring hard right at her, or more specifically at her exposed legs. Fiadh felt warmth heat her face as she quickly became aware of her attire. She raised a hand to the man in greeting to which he returned with a nod of his head. He turned to go below deck without a word and Fiadh looked at the sky showing the first signs of light. Asra snorts besides her as if in amusement earning him a resounding smack to the back of the head.

“Shut it mutt.” Fiadh hisses out to him knowing he was mocking her embarrassment at Katakuri’s staring.

“I didn’t say anything…” The large hound nearly whines at the pain caused by Fia’s slap. Damn woman packed a punch.

Nearby crew just stare with widened eyes at the interaction. Fiadh is certain they all think she’s absolutely insane but it doesn’t really matter.

“Alright let's go get breakfast and get the shit show started.” Fia states before walking back below deck. She felt better after getting fresh air and stretching her legs. 

After feeding herself and Asra she got herself a large mug of caffeine to help her through what was sure to be a long day. Going back to her room she meticulously takes the layers of fabric she’s expected to wear and puts them on. The long skirt for women is surprisingly comfortable and hugs her wide hips. It didn’t fix that the burnt orange color of the clothing made her own orange-ish hair look dulled. Initially she had thought all the bundled orange had been both her and Katakuri’s clothing, but after separating it out she found it was all just for her outfit. The orange color was a sacred color for Oka’s people as it was the color of the Nubians coat of fur. 

There was supposed to be some symbolism between the unmarried woman’s purity being compared to their deity with the clothing but for Fiadh that shit was more than lost. She was not a pure woman, nor would she pretend to be one. However, she will walk the walk for these people since she needs something from them. The clothing was similarly lined with intricate gold designs of flowers and vines. The upper part of the outfit was more just fabric wrapped along her torso with a body tight black long sleeve underneath. After situating the surprisingly heavy silk into what she assumed was appropriate placement with the fabric going over her left shoulder leaving her right arm exposed in just the black top. 

Afterwards she decided to braid half her hair back into an intricate bun, weaving it into itself and pinning it into place with a gold hairpin. The hairpin was a keepsake from her mother and whenever an opportunity arose she would wear it with pride. It wasn’t exceptionally intricate, but had a bejewelled butterfly that dangled off the top like a charm. The only color jewelry allowed was gold for unmarried women which worked perfectly well for Fiadh who primarily owned such accessories anyway. 

Fia silently hoped she wouldn’t be forced to wear these ridiculously intricate clothing the entire stay. She knew they weren’t expected to wear it outside of official proceedings, but realistically how much time would she actually get outside of the business portion of their stay..? Fiadh definitely wanted to wander around the island and explore for at least one full day. It was basically tradition whenever she went to an island that was new to her.

When she was done Fiadh looked in a full body mirror propped on the wall of her room to look herself over. Unlike the men’s attire she didn’t have a sash, and instead of comfortable flats she was stuck in narrow heels. Though the heel was short and the fabric of the shoe comfortable, Fiadh still disliked them as she knew she’d be standing for hours at a time in them. The lack of sash was a direct stab at women’s lack of voice in the country. The sash’s color symbolized an outsider's purpose being there. Fiadh almost felt tempted to wear on of her own in spite but quickly pushed down the thought.

Around her neck was a basic gold necklace with a tiny circular diamond hanging from it. In each ear were gold earrings that hugged her earlobes like cuffs. Her right ear had a second gold clasp half-way up her ear that she forgot she had. Then her golden cuff that was well worn after years of having it, Fia slid it onto her right wrist. The cuff hid deadly silver needles since she knew this island would definitely frown at a woman walking around with a katana. Though it pained her to leave it behind on an unknown island she decided it would be best to keep the katana on the ship for this trip.

It had been a while since she had worn her golden cuff, Fia absent mindedly thumbed over it with her left hand as she thought back to her time at Totto Land. It felt like significantly more time had passed than what had since she had been there. Again she was reminded of the lack of contact from Brulee and Fia felt like a nagging family member as she felt the desire to call Praline to inquire again. She was well aware it wasn’t her place to pry, but she still felt the desire to do so.

The ship noticeably slowed and Fiadh assumed they must be arriving so she collected her packet of papers to hand to the Oka diplomats and swiftly headed above deck. She would have liked to check Katakuri before their arrival but she had spent too much time trying to get herself in order to do so.

Above deck there was audible cheering and as Fia’s eyes adjusted to the morning sunlight she could see the outline of a massive port and city. The buildings were almost all domed at the top, increasing in size and magnitude the further inward her eyes went. Fiadh noticed the array of small fishing boats as well as impressive Galleon ships already docked. Though the Sweet Commanders ship dwarfed all these ships, it was still impressive for the country itself.

At the docks there was a large crowd of people cheering, all in robes similar to hers. Looking along the deck she found Katakuri already in the appropriate attire thankfully. He was leaning on the railing furthest from the approaching docks, his scarf firmly in place, and a noticeably scowl on his face. Clearly unamused at the reception they were receiving here.

“Katakuri, are you ready?” Fia asks with a small smirk at the man's clear discomfort.

“Hm.” It was neither confirmation nor denial. Though the man did pause to look over Fiadh, despite her own clear discomfort in the unusual clothes, he thought they looked good on her. The extra jewelry also caught his eye and he smirked at the cuff on her wrist. An untrained eye wouldn’t notice but he quickly could tell it likely hid something deadly. It looked oddly familiar to him too.

Finally their ship came to a halt and the crew scrambled to tie them to the dock and get the gangway in place for Fiadh and Katakuri. When they both descended alongside each other they had a professional looking group of guards come up to them. Once again Fiadh mentally laughed at countries sending soldiers to receive guests. However, the guards simply bowed and made a pathway through the crowd. At the end there was a gaudy looking carriage that was drawn by large, two legged bird looking creatures with elaborately decorated harnesses. 

Fiadh was more fascinated with the animal pulling the carriage that she completely missed whatever introduction was announced for the people stepping off the carriage. Though she looked at their clothes and saw the primary silver used in it and knew it was one of the royal families of Oka. Suddenly Fiadh wished it was just the guards receiving them…

“Hello! Thank you for travelling all this way Charlotte-sama, Dartraigh-sama.” Said the older gentleman that stepped off the carriage first.

Fiadh’s eyes swept over the four individuals that stepped out from the large carriage. There were two men and two women, clearly a family. Both the men were as tall if not taller than Fiadh and the women were both more average height. They all had darker skin tones and dark blue hair, except what Fiadh presumed was the younger daughter who had light blue hair. 

Fia noticed Katakuri’s lack of response and not so subtly elbowed his side to remind him he had to speak first. Though she would love to just respond freely it was not Oka’s custom.

“Ah, hello. Thank you for welcoming us.” Katakuri responds clearly to travel the distance between the two groups.

Katakuri was surprisingly not awkward in delivering his response and Fiadh almost gawked at him for how strong and concise his voice was. Maybe he was just painfully awkward around her…

“I am the patriarch for the Aki family, you can call me Anash. We are one of the five ruling families of Oka and volunteered to be your hosts for your stay here. This is my wife, Aruna, one of the five queens. These are my two children,” Anash points to his son first in introduction, “my son Aries. And my daughter Arena.”

Fiadh silently wondered if this royal family had to all have A names… probably.

“I am Charlotte Katakuri.” 

“I am Dartraigh Fiadh, a pleasure.” Fiadh says after Katakuri, both with a slight bow in their head. 

Fiadh noticed Arena staring openly at her, more specifically her left side. She had seen all the women around them in the crowd with perfectly unblemished skin, and no signs of hard labor on them. It would have made Fia’s younger self self-conscious, however, she didn’t mind it anymore. The staring was something she expected at this point.

Then the queen lifted her hand and elegantly waved to Fiadh who returned the gesture as she stood back up to her full height. This display of courtesy was met with rowdy cheering from the crowd that almost made Fiadh smirk in triumph at not fucking anything up.

“We will escort you both to the castle so the two of you can get settled if you wish?” The noble's eyes swept over their clothes as if picking it apart before noticing the packet of papers Fiadh held in her hands.

“We’d like to go to morning court directly if that’s okay with you.” Katakuri responds coolly. Fiadh had briefly gone over what to expect with the man, but he was doing much better than she had expected at handling this.

Suddenly the younger man, Aries, that hadn’t said anything at this point began walking towards them with long, confident strides. He had a pleasant smile on his face and as he came closer Fiadh noticed the gold trim on his silver attire. Despite Fiadh’s distaste for how stuffy Oka’s formalities were it was highly useful in information gathering. From his face she presumed he was younger than herself, but she knew well looks could be deceiving. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The man said with a devilishly handsome smile as he came to a stop in front of Fiadh.

Suddenly the man bowed a surprising amount at the hips, and held out a hand clearly requesting hers. Fiadh wasn’t certain if this was another custom, and she certainly hadn’t read anything about it so she held out her hand with a confused but amiable smile. As she glanced down Fiadh saw a mark on Aries’ forearm that was obviously his fated match mark. It barely peaked from his shirt on the hand he held her own in. Aries briefly kissed the back of her hand before standing back up and smiling at Fiadh, never once acknowledging Katakuri. To her it wasn’t out of the norm for this sort of interaction to be a typical greeting.

The crowd surrounding them rippled in gasps and whispers instantly making Fiadh look around in confusion. Fiadh awkwardly looked at the still grinning man silently requesting an answer. Glancing behind him he could see who Fiadh presumed was the man’s mother staring with wide eyes and face crimson.

“Um…” Fiadh mutters, thoroughly confused on what had just transpired.

Katakuri was next to her silently seething and staring a hole into Fiadh’s hand that had just been kissed by the disgusting man still in front of them.

“I believe we should be going now.” Came the stiff voice of Anash, still standing by the carriage with his wife and daughter.

“Agreed.” Came an equally stiff response form Katakuri.

Katakuri silently offers Fiadh his arm which she gratefully takes as they walk to the carriage with the grinning prince. They all board the large carriage which they comfortably fit into. Fiadh sits on the same side as the queen and her daughter, she sets her packet of papers in her lap and has to choke down a sigh.

“So… Dartraigh-sama, we’ve heard much of you from the chancellor.” Came queen Aruna’s timid voice.

“Hopefully all good things.” Fiadh says with a pleasant smile to the woman.

It was clear no one would openly explain what had just transpired with the prince so Fiadh would patiently wait for a time to ask the queen or her daughter in a more private setting. The daughter looked to be in her early 20s and had an indifferent expression the entire time, almost uninterested at everything transpiring. The only spark of interest Fiadh saw was when she was glancing at her face.

“Of course! He spoke very highly of you and your work.” Said the king.

Fiadh kept her amiable expression as she modestly responded to the king. Katakuri sat with crossed arms and a clear scowl on his face. The carriage rattled as they drove down the well maintained roads. The buildings passing by doubled in size and the small markets Fiadh saw by the docks were nonexistent in this area. Clearly a sign of the increasing wealth.

Throughout the short trip the king had attempted repeatedly to get Katakuri to communicate with him. He showed little interest in talking to Fiadh as she expected. However, Katakuri was even less interested in the king. Though he did respond with grunts or nods of his head, which was more than what he’d normally do in this situation. If it wasn’t for Fiadh’s presence he was sure he’d already have started a war and just gotten what they were here for and left. 

When the carriage came to a halt Fiadh followed the queen’s actions as they waited for the men to exit first. She exited last and saw the prince reach a hand out as if to assist her descent. Fiadh kept a tight smile as she accepted the hand but swiftly snatched her hand back as she walked over to Katakuri who still looked immensely annoyed.

“Katakuri, here.” Fiadh pushed the packet of papers into his hands. It was the business proposal they had both worked on.

“Thank you.” He says back just as quiet as she had been. He let his hands brush hers as he took the papers.

The two followed the royal family ahead of them into a large domed building with columns in front of a grand entrance. It looked like a courthouse as Fiadh expected. As they walked through the maze-like building, they reached a large hall where a half circle of seats and podiums stood. There were exactly 13 seats, all etched in gold. The entire hall was overwhelmingly elaborate. With marble floors, and expensive looking chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. 

Each seat held a man, all in formal attire of various collars, and all looking exceptionally serious. They all had various shades of tan skin like the Aki family. However, there was no silver fabric to be seen in the people at the seats. Fiadh presumed they were part of the elected system that Oka was governed by. As they all came to a half in front of them, Katakuri and Fiadh bow again in courtesy. Though Katakuri’s isn’t more than a head nod.

“Good morning, thank you for coming to our beautiful island.” Said one of the men with grayed hair and a maintained beard that still held trace amounts of color.

“The pleasure is ours.” Katakuri responds with little emotion but a confident tone.

“So… You have come for a business deal.” Another man says, significantly younger than the first and clear excitement shown in his shockingly blue eyes.

“Correct, these papers hold all necessary information as well as our business proposal itself.” Katakuri says while holding out the packet of papers. 

A young boy runs out from where he had blended into the wall to rush the papers from Katakuri to one of the men sitting at the podiums. 

“Hm… Alright, we shall look this over then. Would you like us to call for you when we make a decision?” said the man who had first spoken. 

“Yes, or if you have any questions. Please feel free to contact myself or Fiadh. Thank you for your time.” Katakuri says with a nod of his head. 

Fiadh found it surprisingly painful having to stay completely silent during something she disliked doing in the first place. Regardless it was her job, she really fucking despised patriarchal, mysoginistic countries…

The men simply waved them off with them all mumbling confirmation to this arrangement. The royal Aki family that had been patiently waiting to the side of the room stepped forward on Anash’s lead to guide them out of the courtroom. Fiadh did release a sigh of relief this time. She had been very concerned about them asking any questions while they had been there. Luckily they seemed very content just having the papers to go over. 

The formal attire suddenly felt extremely stuffy and overly warm as they stepped out into the quickly warming morning air. Fiadh took the chance to glance down the streets taking in the odd architecture, clear displays of wealth, and well maintained stone roads. There was a handful of carriages all drawn by the odd chicken looking creatures and all different colors. None had as elaborate harnesses as the royals' birds, but there was clearly no lack of money in this country. Even by the sea the smaller houses were still very well maintained and the markets were full of life. 

Though Fiadh enjoyed seeing the prosperous city she also felt the desire to exit it. A capital city like this did not show both sides of the coin. There were always impoverished areas, and she assumed that must be their countryside. She also just wanted to look at beautiful scenery and explore too. Fia was a person of simple pleasures when it came to her worldly travels. Extravagance really wasn’t part of that.

“Do you like Oka so far?” Aries questioned, walking to match Fiadh’s stride.

The small group was making their way back to the carriage at a much slower pace than when they had exited from it. Fiadh took a moment to take in the prince’s appearance. He was a few inches taller than her which was surprising, a slimmer build than Katakuri who was trailing behind her. With dark blue hair cropped short on the sides but longer on the top. His tanned skin looked pristine, clearly well cared for, and he had surprisingly sharp hazel eyes. He overall was very handsome, but looked much too young to be showing so much interest in Fiadh making her snort to herself.

“It is gorgeous. I’m hoping to explore a bit during our stay to see more of it.” Fiadh says in a slow but amicable voice. She felt like she was walking on thin ice with this prince after the odd interaction before.

“Oh, I could escort you if you’d like!” Suddenly the man's voice rose an octave in excitement and Fiadh swore his eyes sparkled.

“Um… Thank you, I’ll let you know.” She neither accepted nor denied his offer. The larger man looked like an excited puppy and it honestly overwhelmed the woman. 

As they reached the carriage Fiadh saw a flash of orange in the corner of her eye. Turning she saw the strangest looking animal that she instantly knew was the Nubian-Aquita. It had large horns that stretched upwards adorned in gold. Floppy ears that hung down the length of its neck and was exactly as she expected in body. A perfect hybrid of what a typical goat and cow look like, just with strange orange fur, a white belly, and the head appeared primarily goat-like. This one looked to be old, and had a family in much more casual clothing than she’d seen so far walking alongside it all smiling and gently petting the animal as they walked down the street. It’s eyes looked vibrant green with rectangular pupils.

“Oh, interesting!” Fiadh murmured as she accidentally stared at the animal. She always loved seeing Dr. Vegapunks animal hybrid creations and just new animals in general. 

“Hahah! Nubian’s are always a shock for newcomers. Though you seem more curious than most.” Said Anash, only honest humor in his tone.

Luckily Fiadh didn’t offend them with her curiosity for their deity, it seemed to please the nobles walking with her more than anything.

“Sorry… They are as gorgeous as the chancellor said.” Fiadh says, ears slightly burning in embarrassment at getting her childish moment caught.

Katakuri chuckled softly and patted Fiadh on the head. He had been silently following her, and though he didn’t see the fascination with the weird looking goat he enjoyed seeing her eyes light up as they did. Seemed it wasn’t just food that this woman was interested in. Fiadh looked up at the man with a surprisingly meek grin.

“No worries my dear, we’re glad to see you enjoy yourself here. Our culture sometimes is a bit… much for outsiders.” said Aruna shocking Fiadh with her voice but she had a pleasant smile as always.

They all crowded back into the carriage setting off towards where they would be staying while at the island. Fiadh knew Katakuri had set up for a few crew members to get their bags of clothes to them. She hoped they’d be there before them as she felt more sweat bead down her back in the layered clothes she was in.

“Oh, I love getting to experience different cultures. Part of the joys of my work.” Fiadh says awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. 

Not for the first time she saw the younger princess staring at her across her mother on the seat between them, specifically her hand by her scarred neck. Instead of ignoring it Fia made eye contact and smiled her brightest smile to the woman. Arena’s head jerked to look down at the floor of the carriage, and Fiadh couldn’t help but chuckle at the girl’s reaction. Though Fia’s face felt tired and tense from all her forced smiles, she knew it was worth it given the calm mood surrounding the group.

“So… You are a woman who travels the world?” The curious question from Anash didn’t seem judging, but Fiadh was certain there was some hesitation. 

Aries and Aruna were silently listening with eyes focused on Fiadh’s answers. Whereas, Katakuri was looking out the window in what appeared to be disinterest. Though Fiadh knew he was also listening.

“Yes, I am a food inspector. Well I mostly just connect people and help supply routes flow smoothly. I used to do more hands on inspections for quality control, but I’m in too high demand now!” Fiadh says with pride in her voice. 

She would still do inspections of food when she could, but now her job had become more of the frustrating business side of things. It paid well, but man was it boring.

“Interesting. You seem to do well for yourself.” Anash said with a pleasant smile, but seemed to lose any genuine interest.

“You travel alone?” the queen asked with a more timid voice.

“Well, kinda. I have Darra, but he’s more of my ride getting place to place.” 

“Your… ride?” 

“He’s my companion, been with me since I was younger. He’s basically a giant vulture and flies me so I can get to my various job requests around the oceans.” Fiadh says with another more genuine smile as he thought of her friend. “That reminds me, I have to find him a gift. Any good stores for large gold jewelry I should go to?”

Fiadh was relieved that this group of nobles seemed less stuck up than she was worried about. They weren’t nearly as terrible as she thought they might be. Talking comfortably with her even if she was a woman, though there were obvious differences as expected.

At her question Aries shot a hand up and answered loudly, “Yes! I can take you to it tomorrow if you’d like.”

“Sounds interesting. I’ve never heard of such an animal.” Anush suddenly looked more interested in the conversation.

Fiadh was glad in the New World people wouldn’t bat an eye or think she was crazy for saying she flew around on a giant bird. Here there were much stranger things to be seen compared to the calmer seas.

“He’s a brat.” Katakuri surprisingly spoke up. 

Fiadh sent him a mock frown and retorted, “Yea, but not as bad as you.”

Shit… Shouldn’t have said that.

Anush and Aruna looked equally shocked. The king's face turned slightly red and he looked clearly disgusted at her response. Aruna looked mortified and her face was pale in fear. Obviously a woman wasn’t supposed to talk back like that in this country, but Fiadh felt exasperated as she had been talking to Katakuri. Not someone from Oka. Aries looked interested in the conversation still, but not as upset as his parents seemed to be.

Katakuri started chuckling before saying, “She’s not wrong.”

“That explains why she isn’t married.” Anush said with significant bite to his words.

Fiadh felt herself bristle in anger.

“Father, they are guests.” Aries surprisingly spoke up though his voice slightly cracked.

Anush seemed to take his words to heart though and nodded his head with a sigh.

“I apologise, that was rude.”   
“Indeed it was.” Fiadh said in a clipped voice.

An awkward silence fell over the occupants of the carriage that continued to rattle down the road. Fiadh could feel Katakuri’s clear irritation after Anush’s comment. Though he seemed to be refraining from doing anything she appreciated his emotions nonetheless. 

When the carriage came to a stop at the heart of the city Fiadh didn’t wait for formalities sake and lurched out the carriage with Katakuri right behind her. They had attempted to stay amicable and match Oka’s pace, but neither of them were about to be disrespected. Both individuals had too much pride to sit still after the king's comment.

Fiadh wasn’t about to back down and leave, she was much too stubborn. No she’d face these misogynistic twats head on, and win.

A disgruntled Aki family left the carriage after them and Anush quickly excused himself saying his son and wife would escort them. His quick retreat gave Fiadh sickly sweet satisfaction. Katakuri was still scowling heavily and kept his arms crossed in front of him. 

Aruna awkwardly tried to give them a short tour of the castle-like house they’d be staying in. Apparently the surrounding buildings were the four other royal families and they’d be coming over for dinner.

“Do I have to wear this outfit for that?” Fiadh asked, speaking more comfortably now that it was mostly women present. She had a feeling Aries didn’t mind her unladylike mannerisms as much as his father anyway.

“Um… Y-yes, but since you’re guests you don’t have to if you don’t wish to.” Aruna seemed far more uncomfortable than before and Fiadh momentarily regretted ruining the calm they had before.

Oh well. Was bound to happen sometimes anyway. At least it was semi-private instead of infront of a crowd.

“Okay. Me and Katakuri will discuss it later and let a worker know.” Fiadh had seen plenty of servants running around the building and as always castle walls would have ears. 

Asuna just nodded and continued giving them the tour. Aries and Arena kept walking at a distance behind them. Neither spoke to them though Fiadh had seen them quietly whispering to one another a few times. The princess seemed very shy, whereas the prince seemed overly interested.

“These are your rooms and these three attendants will be taking care of you while you’re here. Just ring one of the bells by your door if you need anything.” Aruna said with a weak smile before she curtsied and turned to leave with her children.

Aries suddenly turned to Fiadh and said, “We’ll see you at dinner! If you need anything feel free to ask the servants to call me and I’ll come by.” His puppy-dog impression quickly melted away as he winked at her with an overly sultry smirk.

Fiadh just nodded her head knowing damn well she would not be requesting the prince. She could feel Katakuri rest a hand on her shoulder with a slightly tense grip. Turning to the man she nodded to him to follow her and they both entered her room together. 

The servants seemed to gasp and fluster at this but she ignored them. She was certain it was against their strict customs for an unmarried woman to have a man in her quarters. But yet again Fiadh wasn’t a fucking Oka woman and they could spread rumors all they’d like, Fiadh honestly hoped they would. Get the prince’s interest off her maybe. 

‘So much for playing nice.’ she thought to herself. 

Fiadh and Asra taking that morning walk :)

(I suck at drawing humans please excuse it!!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was SO MUCH FUN to write! Also please feel free to ignore any of my drawings if you so please. I just wanted to share my mental image since I felt it might help... If you like them let me know and I'll share more! 
> 
> Anyone find the Easter egg in the drawing??


	15. Spicy Sparring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh decides to take Katakuri up on another spar. She gets flung about like a sack of potatoes and that's about it.  
> But these Oka royals do be big pricks. Truly ruining the entire meal for her.

As Fiadh entered the large, gaudy room that she would be staying in she quickly took note of her bags neatly set on a coffee table. Turning around she saw Katakuri had followed her like she expected. The man walked up to her and again ruffled her hair slightly messing hair out of her elaborate bun. She didn’t mind though the contact was appreciated after the shitty day.

Subconsciously Fiadh felt herself lean forward into the touch to the point her forehead was almost on the taller man’s chest, well more like his stomach with the height difference. Katakuri felt his mark burn bright and warm on his shoulder at the contact and he felt the desire to guide the woman to lean against him. Refraining he raked through his mind to think of some way to comfort the woman. She didn’t look outwardly bothered, but he knew the shitty comment must have affected her in some way as it thoroughly enraged him.

“You okay?” Came a surprisingly soft tone from Katakuri.

“Ah, I’m fine. Thanks.” Fiadh responded with a smile up at him.

Sighing in exasperation Fia pulls a hand up to her neck before grumbling, “Not the first time shit like this has happened. Still riles me up though.”

Turning away Fiadh walks to her bags to begin pawing through them. With her current impression of Oka she solidified her decision to do the bare minimum here on out. Pulling out some clothes she was certain would be frowned upon and setting them to the side she turned back to Katakuri who had completely unbuttoned his top. He was watching her with curiosity but hadn’t moved further into the room.

“These clothes are ridiculously stuffy.” Fiadh complained as if in agreeance with his decision to half strip. It was basically his natural state anyway.

Katakuri nods his head in agreeance and walks over to sit on one of the large chairs by the coffee table. He watched as Fiadh untwisted the fabric wrapped around her torso leaving her in the long skirt and tight long sleeve. He could make out the woman's well toned arms and light outline of abes through the material. 

“Outfit for dinner?” the man asked looking at the pile of clothes.

“Yup, fuck being nice. Pricks want to judge me and my life? Well fuck them, I’ll wear what I damn well please.” Fiadh continued to grumble strings of curses under her breath.

“Ok, I’ll be sure to do the same.”

“You sure? They hate me right now. Not you.” Fiadh reminded Katakuri.

“Don’t care. I have no interest in their opinions anyway. I was dressing this way because you asked me to.” The man says without batting an eye.

Fiadh blushed from her ears down to her neck at the comment.

“Well I appreciate it…” Not sure what else to say she fiddles with the drawstring to her bag, for once not able to keep eye contact. She couldn’t miss the clear anger still in Katakuri’s words, but she knew they were directed at the Aki family and not her.

“Want to go spar? Clear our heads before dinner.” Katakuri suddenly asked.

Fiadh thought back to a training ground they had passed by during their tour of the castle. She contemplated his offer for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. It didn’t hurt that she knew it’d be another jab to get under the royal family’s skin. Technically there wasn’t anything wrong with two foreigners sparring, it was simply against Oka’s bull shit traditions for women to never fight.

“Okay, I left my katana on the ship though.”

“That’s fine, I left my weapon behind too.”

“Alright!” Suddenly Fiadh’s eyes seemed to spark with excitement making Katakuri also smile forgetting his previous irritation. “Give me a few minutes to change and we can head over.”

Katakuri nodded his head and quickly stood to leave to go change. As he went to pass Fia who was still leaning over the coffee table shuffling through her bags he saw a strand of hair fall into her face. Probably a strand he caused to fall out of the bun earlier. As casually as he could he brushed the strand behind her ear and kept walking. His ears burnt red as he found himself thinking once again about how soft her skin felt on his calloused fingers. 

Fiadh was surprised at the small act of affection from the man and felt her heart clench painfully as he walked by. Her mark made itself remembered as it warmed up to a dull flame, heightened by the ache in her heart. Damn, he was affecting her this much and didn’t even seem to mean to.

“Ugh… What am I gonna do with you doughboy…” Fia mumbled under her breath before going back to her task at hand.

Changing into slim black jeans, green sash crossing her hips, her knee high boots, and a loose white blouse that her sports bra was clearly visible through, Fiadh felt comfortable and ready to expel her rage. Despite calming down significantly her anger was simply simmering under the surface, desperately needing some kind of release. She swiftly plucked off all her jewelry save for her wrist cuff and earrings. Pulling her hair up into a loose ponytail she swiftly left her room to find Katakuri.

The man was already in the hallway in his average day attire save for his normal knee pads and spiked cuffs he wore on his calves. His tight leather pants showed off his toned long legs, while his vest showed off his rippling, muscled chest, his standard gloves on hand, and scarf wrapped around his neck hiding his face. Fia had rarely seen the man in casual clothes, but she would be lying if she said this was her personal favorite. Fiadh grinned up at the man and gave him a thumbs up that she was good to go. Kicking off the wall he had been leaning on he took the lead in going to the courtyard they’d likely destroy.

“Thanks for sparring with me again!” Fiadh says as she knit her hands behind her back stretching out her shoulders.

Katakuri just grunted in confirmation.

“I’m gonna win this time.” Fia cheekily sang out.

“Sure.” Katakuri follows this with a snort of amusement. Though the man had to admit she was surprisingly stronger than he had expected she still wasn’t to a level that could beat him.

Fiad booed and pouted at his response leading to another pat on the head from the taller man.

“Oh, we’re here!” Fia cheered out as she jogged out into the sunlight. 

It was past noon at this point and she basked in the warmth before taking note that there were a handful of guards present. They appeared to have just finished some kind of training, all glistening in sweat. Fiadh noticed their gawking and confused glances, but purposefully ignored them. Squatting down she stretched her legs swiftly before turning to Katakuri.

“Ready when you are doughboy~!” She mockingly called out with a shit eating grin.

All she saw was a brow twitch from the man before he launched at her. Apparently provocation could make him act first. Fiadh jumped to the left to avoid the right hook coming at her head. Whistling lowly she skipped a few steps to gain distance before taking a real fighting stance. In a battle of brawns Fia was at a stark disadvantage to Katakuri, however, she was just a hair faster when dodging.

There were audible gasps, a few shuffling steps coming from the audience of Oka guards. None of them spoke up or actually interfered so they went ignored.

“That wasn’t very nice…” Fia sarcastically commented as she swept a leg out in a low kick to Katakuri’s legs.

The man smirked, only his eyes showing his amusement to the woman as he jumped over the leg. Reaching out he tried to grab at Fia’s arm thinking she’d be off balanced from her kick attempt. However, the woman surprised him by swiftly rotating with her momentum and grabbing his wrist with her hand, taking him with her spinning momentum. Stepping towards Katakuri, Fiadh swiftly took his wrist to her opposite forcing his head to come down closer to hers.

“Hey there.” Fia says quietly with a devious smirk. She released a puff of air into the man's face just to further tease him with their proximity. 

Katakuri caught off guard by her face being so close tried to jerk back. He felt his face burn hot, but the chill of desire running down his spine left him feeling chilled. Bringing his other hand up he swiftly threw a punch at the woman who grinned wider at his reaction. 

“Fuck” Katakuri mumbles as Fiadh leans out of the way of the punch and with another rotation of her hips sent Katakuri up and over her back. Keeping ahold of the wrist she’d earlier trapped she twisted it in a full arm lock making Katakuri grunt in discomfort.

“Tap.” Fiadh says in a serious tone. 

Her red hair created a fiery halo around her as she looked down at the stubborn man doing a painfully awkward back arch to keep from laying out on the ground. An embarrassing heat spreads through the man's entire body as his mind catches up to their current situation. Damn his hand was real close to her chest, and her legs looked really good from this angle. 

“No.” 

Katakuri kicked one of his long legs out like a serpent of mochi to wrap around Fiadh’s feet and pull her up and off him.

“THAT’S NOT FAIR YOU ASSHOLE!” Fiadh belts out as she is sent flying across the courtyard. 

Rotating herself in the air she lands on her feet and punches the ground in irritation cracking the stone under her.

“Never said no devil-fruit usage.”

“Shouldn’t fucking have to.” Fia mumbled out with a scowl still in place.

Katakuri simply shrugs before jerking up to stand again and stands casually waiting for Fia to strike at him. He harshly swallows a laugh that threatens to bubble from his chest at seeing Fiadh pout like a child across from him. The woman was seething, he could see literal steam exiting her mouth as she sighed in frustration.

“Fuck this.”

Busoshoku haki covered both her arms as she stared down her opponent. If he wanted to fight dirty then so would she. Launching at Katakuri head on normally wasn’t a great idea, but Fiadh’s predator-like steely eyes almost made Katakuri jerk back as she launched at him. Bringing up her fist to punch at the man's throat she watched as he put up arms to block before firing out her right leg covered in armament haki to kick his exposed ribs instead. She was surprised when they actually made contact rather than Katakuri avoiding her with his mochi.

She could hear the grunt from Katakuri at her kick, she packed more of a kick than a punch with how she was built. Still in Katakuri’s bubble of space Fiadh switched to her other leg to try and kick low again. The man in turn launched a punch at the woman now within reach causing her to lean back to avoid getting clocked in the face. 

Backing off Fiadh saw from the corner of her eye their audience had significantly grown and smirked at their awed faces. Katakuri launched his fist again, this time letting it extend as mochi. Fiadh growled out in irritation but jumped upwards to avoid the punch, making sure to land on the other side of her opponent. She wasted no time jumping on Katakuri’s back wrapping her long legs around his neck and about to throw her weight back to suplex the man. The man instead fazed her legs through his neck letting her tilt backwards alone and reached with a large hand to catch her as she fell backwards by the back of her shirt.

“Really?” He asked in an unamused tone. 

Despite his irritated tone his ears burnt red as he realized just how close she had been to him and tried not to think too long on her legs being wrapped around him. Though their warmth seemed to linger and his mark once again felt uncomfortably itchy against his vest.

Fiadh felt like a scruffed cat as the man pulled her in front of him by the back of her shirt. She felt her shirt slide upwards as she slid downwards and a breeze on her stomach made her shiver. Seeing Katakuri’s distracted gaze taking in the exposed skin Fiadh decided to capitalize on it. Instead of dangling in defeat Fiadh kicked up both her feet and launched them up into the man's face. Somersaulting over Katakuri’s hand that had been holding her she smirked at the thump of contact her feet made with the man’s face.

Katakuri felt a vein pop on his forehead in irritation as he readjusts his scarf while glaring at Fia. Fiadh was fighting similar, yet different from their previous spar. She was still irritating as hell to catch, shockingly fast, and loved egging on her opponent. However, this time she seemed to be knowingly stirring him up in very different ways. Making a ball of mochi in his hand he hardened it and flicked it at Fia as she tried to put distance between them again. 

“Ow! Prick.” Fia called as the mochi hit her square in the forehead.

“You started it. Brat.” Katakuri smirked at the woman’s irritated face.

Fiadh rolled her eyes and instead began circling the man to the right trying to find some kind of opening again. It was frustrating the man had learned his lesson so fast and wasn’t making any direct attacks first. Most of Fia’s hand to hand combat skills heavily relied on using the enemies momentum against them. Doesn’t really work on enemies that stand stock still and play a waiting game like Katakuri.

Accepting her fate of getting bruised from her next move Fiadh ducks low and sprints back at the man. Katakuri raises an eyebrow at the woman trying to attack low again. Raising a wall of mochi directing in her path to stop her he is surprised when Fiadh simply sprints around it and continues towards him.

Fiadh plants both hands on the ground in a perfect handstand and spins herself to launch two deadly kicks at the man's chest. Katakuri feels momentarily winded by the first kick, but grabs the woman's boot-clad foot to lift her off the ground and throw her. Fiadh expecting this curls her torso up and grabs Katakuri’s other arm with a haki covered grip swiftly putting him in a wrist lock that tightens the ligaments in the arm, keeping him from carelessly tossing her away again.

“You’re like velcro.” Katakuri drawls out in irritation.

“Heheh, I try.” Fia responds with a grin.

Her pupils blown wide from excitement, hair half fallen out of it’s ponytail from being upside down, flushed face from exertion, even the smudges of dirt on her cheek and arms. Katakuri takes it all in and couldn’t help but think about how beautiful the woman in front of him was. He felt warmth radiate again on his shoulder and is reminded how lucky he is to have found the person bound to him by fate. The only issue is the other type of heat he felt as well, his already snug pants feeling entirely too restricting. 

‘Shit, time to go.’

At this stand still Katakuri accepted a draw.

“Wanna go again?” Fia asked but clearly out of breath and tired.

Katakuri hadn’t broken much of a sweat as he’d mostly stood and let the woman attack him. However, both could use a shower after rolling on the courtyard ground.

“No. Lets go clean up for dinner.” Katakuri says, walking over and patting Fiadh’s head trying to dissuade the excited woman from trying to continue in fear of being caught.

He really couldn’t keep himself from touching Fiadh’s hair anymore. Her hair was insanely soft, she didn’t seem to mind, and the contact settled something within him.

Grinning up Fia responds, “Okay!”

The surrounding crowd is mumbling loudly and the guards are intermingled with a large number of servants now. Katakuri feels irritated at the disturbance, but ignores it as he turns to walk away knowing Fiadh would follow. Without acknowledging any of the stares and rather rude commentary going on around them they both made the trek back to their rooms.

“Thanks Katakuri.” Fiadh says in a soft, content voice.

“Anytime.”

Smiling at the man who didn’t bother to turn back to her when responding, they separated to their respective rooms to clean up for the fast approaching dinner. After taking an extra long shower to cool off she felt significantly calmer. Though the spar with Katakuri had been cathartic it had also been highly distracting. Despite seeing the man half shirtless daily it was very different from being up close or pressed against said chest. Just thinking of it was causing Fiadh’s stomach to slightly turn with heat. 

Fiadh pulled on the clothes she had laid to the side earlier to distract her wandering mind. Pulling them on swiftly she was now wearing her dark green crop top of high quality silk with dancing dragons stitched in gold thread on her torso that covered her neck and was long sleeved but stopped right after her breasts. A high waisted ankle-length tube skirt with a slit on the leg reaching up to her upper thigh hugged her long legs, and wrapped sandals adorned her feet. She felt properly fit to piss some fuckers off. 

She left the earrings as they had been that morning, the gold cuff still above her wrist, and she put 3 delicate gold anklets on her right ankle that softly clinked when she walked. Unsure of what to do with her wild, damp curls of hair she decided to leave it mostly down and braided one side back out of her face. 

Deciding to leave her room early despite having time she walked over to Katakuri’s door calling in loudly.

“I’m coming in~!”

“Hold up!” came a panicked voice of Katakuri.

Already having swung the door open Fiadh stared like a deer in headlights at Katakuri wrapped in only a short towel around his hips still dripping in shower water. Face completely uncovered and mouth hanging open in shock probably a perfect mirror of Fiadh’s. Throwing herself backwards Fia ended up on her ass in the hallway having pulled the door shut with her.

“S-SORRY!” she called, face a flaming red that matched her hair.

“Ugh…” was the only response she could hear from within the room.

She had assumed he’d already be dressed and sitting around. Fiadh normally took longer than him to get ready and she had even spent more time than usual getting ready since it was still technically an official dinner. Even if she was using it as an opportunity for revenge… Still! He shouldn’t have just been getting out of the shower.

“Alright, you can come in now.” Katakuri said as he opened the door for her before walking back into his own room.

Still being laid out on the hallway floor Fiadh sat up still not over her previous shock. She slowly stood up and staggered after the man. No point turning around now. Katakuri was sitting at his own couch, coffee table setup in black slacks, a completely unbuttoned white dress shirt, and his scarf loosely hanging around his neck not covering his face for once.

“Guess we’re even now.” Katakuri said, smirking at Fiadh who was still clearly in shock.

“What?” She said with a confused face.

“Remember back on Whole Cake Island?” He said with a mocking tilt of his head.

“Ohh! Now I do! Shit, we are even.” She said with a large grin thinking back to the man's terrified face when he saw her in only a towel.

“Mhm. Anyway, what’d you need?” Clearly not interested in letting her bring up that situation.

“Nothing. I was just ready and bored. Whatcha think? Good enough to traumatize some stuck-up nobles?” Fiadh follows her words with a twirl to show off the skirt and rest of the outfit.

Katakuri sees two black lines running parallel on the skin just below the woman's chest as the shirt lifts slightly. He also took the moment to appreciate just how good the outfit looked on the woman. The skirt was a mocking kind of modest with the sexy slit running high up her leg. The cropped top having long sleeves made it all the more amusing with the large strip of exposed torso. Her toned abs showed almost teasingly in the exposed area.

“Hm… Is that your tattoo?” He couldn’t help commenting on what had first caught his eye.

“What?” Fiadh asked looking down and tugging the crop top back down she just nods her head saying, “Oh, yea that’s the addition to the old one.”

“Hm?” Clearly curious and inquiring, but Fiadh didn’t seem interested in explaining.

“Not going to share?” Katakuri asked teasingly as he flexed his own tattooed left arm.

The flex almost made Fiadh drool, however his words made her sigh. 

“Fine… Guess it wouldn’t really hurt.” Lifting up the crop top till the underwire of a bra could be seen exposing a surprising amount of black ink.

Katakuri stared with rapt interest taking in a large smiley face with a tear drop coming from one eye with six lines branching off and gracefully arching lines that seemed to flow with the natural shape of the woman's breasts and ribs. The symmetrical lines seemed to make a half heart shape with spikes coming off the arches. He could also just see her older, more faded tattoo sitting above it. Looked like the jagged teeth from her old crew's jolly roger and the crossbones if he had to guess.

“I assume it means something.” Katakuri said as more of a statement than a question.

“Yup. No I won’t explain it, we’d be sitting here forever.” Fiadh says with a smirk.

Snorting in amusement Katakuri nods in agreement more than pleased that the woman had shared something that seemed rather personal as is.

Pointing at the smiley face in the center Fiadh says, “This is what my brat uses as his jolly roger nowadays. If you ever see it tell him I said hi, maybe beat ‘em up for me.” She finishes her statement with a snarky grin before pulling her shirt back down.

Katakuri just nods to the woman feeling even more confused at the woman's use of current versus past terminology. As if the tattoo was done before the crew was established… 

‘Faidh’s confusing as ever.’ Katakuri thinks to himself.

“Can do. It’s a well done tattoo, flows beautifully.”

“Awe, thank you! I love your tribal style, I’ve always wanted to get one of my arms done. Never had time…” Fiadh says with a slight frown.

Snorting Katakuri responds, “You make it sound like you can’t get it done now.”

“I’m a little old to be getting tatted out.” She said laughing.

“Wow… You sound like an old lady.” Katakuri laughs at his own statement

Fiadh just watched despite the rude remark. She really enjoyed his laugh and smiling face.

“You should smile more. You’re really handsome when you do.” Fiadh blurts out before filtering herself.

Both flush red and stare at each other for a minute. Though unlike last time a similar occurrence happened Katakuri didn’t try to hide his face instead he got a mischievous expression.

“I have a feeling you only spend time with me for my face now.” He says in a monotone voice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Your minimal conversation is also a very big draw.” Fiadh responds sarcastically.

With a lull in conversation they both stare at each other silently. The shared comforting warmth coming from their marks furthering their comfort in one another's presence. Fiadh normally found such silence awkward and felt a need to fill it, but this time she felt completely content. She wondered once again why she would be feeling such a level of comfort from someone she hardly even knew. Neither truly knew one another at a deep level, yet felt unreasonably trusting in the other.

A knock at the door interrupts their silent staring contest, and a servant calls from the other side to let them know it was dinner time. Man time flies when verbally fighting with someone. Though Fia can’t help but smile feeling significantly happier after getting this time to unwind. Katakuri was shockingly thoughtful, clearly doing things he’s not entirely comfortable with to cheer her up.

“Well, guess we better go. Time to go have some real fun!” Fia says jumping up from where she had sat across from Katakuri.

“Alright.” He says chuckling again and pulling up his scarf.

**_____________**

During their walk to the dining hall Fiadh had three servants come and ask her if she’d like to change before entering and Katakuri had one male guard comment to him that he should button his shirt. In pure defiance Katakuri untucked half the shirt and made no move to button it. As they entered the dining hall they were announced by a guard standing by the large grand door.

Yet another gaudy, heavily decorated room with marble floors, a domed high ceiling, and pillars adorned in gold greeted them. A long table filled with Oka nobles as well as the Aki family were sitting waiting for them. There were a handful of empty seats and despite seeing clear sides of the table being set for women versus men Fiadh sits besides Katakuri in the middle of the table.

Fiadh took great pride in the shocked and disgusted faces being directed in their direction as they took their seats. However, she felt confusion at Aries’ amused face and friendly smile when she locked eyes briefly. There were a few other interested or curious looks coming from the women’s side of the table, all from the younger generations.

With her head held high with pride and confidence she sits gracefully on the seat next to Katsuki and looks at the pristinely laid out cutlery and plates in front of her. Instantly she gets a flashback of her old crewmate trying to teach her table manners in her youth. She had been vehemently against such things at the time but now she’s thankful for it as she has since never made a fool of herself in such settings.

‘Thank you Kie-san.’ Fiadh thinks to herself before glancing over to check on Katakuri.

Katakuri didn’t seem at all bothered and was making direct eye contact with the head of the Aki family whose face was flushed crimson in clear anger. He sat at the head of the table with his son to his right on the side they were sitting and his wife to his left with other women lining down that side of the table including her daughter Arena. Without acknowledging him Fiadh nods her greeting to Aruna before meeting the gaze of the other nobles present. She honestly hadn’t expected so many to be present for dinner but then again they were visiting diplomats and bound to garner interest. 

“Thank you for joining us.” Came the strained voice of Anash Aki. He didn’t bother faking a smile but seemed to have controlled his expression some.

“Of course, thank you for inviting us.” Fiadh responds with a nod of her head.    
Katakuri only responds with a grunt and crosses his head in annoyance. 

There were some muttering around the table at Fiadh speaking out of turn, but she ignored it.

“I heard you got some fresh air before dinner.” Aries speaks up suddenly. His eyes seem to sparkle with mischief and his full attention is on Fiadh.

“Ah, yes. Your courtyard is quite… spacious.” She says with a smirk. Word certainly travels fast as she expected.

“Next time invite me and I will make time to join.” He says with a handsome smile.

Fiadh only nods her head and hums in acknowledgement. 

Aki mumbles something under his breath before calling in servants to serve appetizers.

“I haven’t introduced you both to our other guests.” Aki states while gesturing to the two similar looking men next to his son, “This is the Ita family, next is the Nubi family, and last is the Kita family. They are all of the other noble families of Oka. Though not all their children are here they wanted to greet our guests.” 

“A pleasure.” Fiadh says to them nodding her head in greeting with her hands placed gracefully on her lap.

Katakuri nods a head in greeting, barely glancing at any of the introduced royals.

“We have heard a lot about the two of you. I’m sure we can all agree we look forward to what business agreement we workout.” Says what Fiadh believes is the head of the Ita family who was grinning brightly at them. 

The man was quite round clearly eating well, but held himself with a confident strength that Fiadh could appreciate. Fia was more surprised at the lack of hostility unlike the Aki family, but smiles back at the man before responding.

“Yes, we hope it works out well for both parties. Thank you for the warm welcome.”

“Of course, just let any of us know if you require anything during your stay. I am Itadoru, this is my son Diro, and my wife across from me is Lira.” Fia notices the man’s softened features when introducing his wife and immediately feels more comfortable in the conversation.

“Pleasure to meet you all, Fiadh Dartraigh.” 

“Is it true you’ve traveled all the Blues and oceans Miss Dartraigh?” Says a rather monotone Diro. He looked curious despite his uninterested tone.

“Yes, that is true.”

“What sort of islands have you been to?”

“Um… We’d be here for days if I went into that sort of detail.” Fiadh says with an amused tone. The man looked to be in his twenties around Aries’ age so Fia couldn’t help finding his childish curiosity charming.

“Ah, maybe later then.”

After that short exchange the other families made multiple attempts to talk to Katakuri and all failed spectacularly. Fiadh’s personal favorite was when one of the daughters tried to ask his age and marital status and his glare scared her so badly she slipped off the chair she had perched on the edge of. No one really interacted with Fiadh, but Aruna had attempted some basic pleasantries, commenting that she liked Fia’s hair and making no comment on her clothing.

The entire meal Katakuri had kept his scarf firmly in place, ate nothing and as time passed reclined further back into his chair. At this point he was leaning back with his long legs crossed as well as his arms. A thoroughly unimpressed expression adorned his face and the slight wrinkle between his eyebrows made Fiadh giggle. Ever the grumpy man. Poking his side Fiadh smiles at him and whispers something that makes his eyes light up in interest.

After the main course had come and gone the desert came out. All the food had been quite normal and very delicious. Although it was a bit too over the top for Fiadh’s taste, she much preferred home cooked meals than these extravagant dishes being served. She couldn’t help mentally noting what she would change in each dish. Though the quality was top tier, even she couldn’t help but marvel at the produces’ immaculate state, it felt wasted being soaked in sauces.

“Please enjoy these light deserts and warm refreshments.” Said Anash as small plates holding deserts were placed in front of them.

The other noble families disseminated into their own chatter with one another. The Nubi and Kita family having ignored Fiadh and Katakuri after brief probing at the beginning of the meal. They seemed perfectly content to quietly chatter between themselves, occasionally including the Aki patriarch. 

Fiadh stares at some sort of flan dessert in a porcelain cup in front of her. The caramel top looked just right however the custard looked to be a different consistency than she normally saw. Lightly poking at it she didn’t even acknowledge as the servant set coffee off to the side of her.

“Huh…” Fiadh says in confusion. 

Deciding to just taste test it she takes a small amount of the flan and rolls it over her tongue. It instantly melts into her mouth and is fluffy yet creamy at the same time. The custard felt thicker than what she was used to and the dessert was overall not as artificially sickly sweet as most flan turned out being. It felt like a more natural sweetness overall from the custard dessert.

“This is amazing!” Fiadh says with bright eyes and looks over at Katakuri.

The man's eyes are locked onto Fiadh’s lips and she can visibly see hunger in his eyes. Blushing slightly she tips her head down to make eye contact with the man.

“You definitely need to try this Katakuri! Maybe a servant can take it to your room?” She says with a wide grin up at him.

“Good idea.” 

Those two words were more than anyone had gotten out of the man that evening. The most the nobles got were one word responses or noises. Fiadh once again couldn’t help but enjoy the clear preferential treatment she received. Everyone enjoyed feeling special, Fia definitely wasn’t any different in that regards when it came to people she gave a shit about.

“I’m glad you enjoy the dessert, Miss Dartraigh.” The jovial voice of the Ita families patriarch sounded out.

“Yes, it is amazing! I’ll have to ask the chefs later how they got this texture…” Fiadh says with the most genuine grin of the evening. Fia felt many eyes on her as she spoke with Ita.

“No need! It’s achieved with the milk from our Nubian-Aquita.” Itadoru spoke with another chuckle.

“Oh, that’s truly interesting. I haven’t found much information on their milk to be honest. I have many questions regarding it’s shelf life as well as its uses.” 

“Well I can arrange for Diro to take you to our families farm outside of the city tomorrow if you wish. You can ask the true experts all your questions then! Our farmers are the best of the best, that I promise you.”

“That would be great! Thank you, I hope I do not inconvenience any of you too much.” Fiadh couldn’t wipe the wide grin off her face at the prospect of garnering information.

Diro looked momentarily shocked at being volunteered but his cool expression quickly came back and he nodded her head to Fia as if in a mock bow and said, “It would be an honor to be your guide. Maybe I can ask some of my earlier questions then.”

Aries a few seats away from the man looked irritated but didn’t speak up. Katakuri was still staring at the flan and Fiadh back and forth.

Shortly after this the two families that showed little to no interest in Fiadh and Katakuri took their leave with little notice. The Nubi and Kita family were likely as pissed with Fiadh’s display of disrespect as the Aki family which suited her just fine. It was more than enough that the Ita family seemed unbothered and willing to cooperate. Maybe if their stay got extended longer than expected she’d ask for herself and Katakuri to stay with them instead.

The head of the Ita family was truly a jovial man, and seemed the warmest out of all the nobles they’d met thus far. His relationship seemed to be the best with his wife as well. Throughout the meal he had doted on her and continually communicated with her rather than the other male nobles beside him. Lira looked to be a foreigner given her pale skin and shimmering golden hair, slightly dulled with age. 

Though none of this surprised Fiadh when she spotted two matching black marks of the two. When they turned to leave after dinner beside each other Fiadh could see it on the back of their necks. The woman’s disappeared into her hairline, but both obvious sakura blossom-shaped marks proudly displayed them as being a fated pair. 

The warmth the two had together made Fiadh’s gut twist slightly in jealousy. In truth she has always desired that sort of connection with someone. Yet it seemed like a foolish fantasy for little girls. Even when she sees couples like the Ita’s Fiadh can’t help but think it’s not something she’d ever be able to receive. Yet here she was. Awkwardly sitting next to her own fated person, getting jealous over someone else's relationship. How childish.

Unbeknownst to her Katakuri had dangerously close thoughts on the matter. Despite his seemingly uninterested disposition there wasn’t much he missed. 

With a short goodbye to the Aki family Fiadh and Katakuri beelined for their rooms. They both felt completely drained from that prolonged interaction. It was already late into the nate as full course meals like that took an ungodly amount of time. Not to mention the stuttering conversation held throughout it. 

“Ughhh, that was miserable.” Fiadh drawls as she reaches her arms above her head letting her shoulders pop making her sigh in relief.

“Yes, it was.” Katakuri agrees, eyes drooping tiredly. 

He had requested the dessert from dinner be sent to his room as Fiadh prompted him to. However, he had eaten nothing during the dinner, hadn’t had a merienda due to the hectic day, and was thoroughly hangry.

“Hm~, wanna go raid the kitchen after we change?” Fiadh says with a mischievous smirk.

“Hell yes.” Katakuri responds faster than he meant to.

Quickly reaching their rooms they split to change into comfortable clothes to get into the last bit of trouble for their long, busy day. Being entirely too tired to communicate they silently went to the kitchen where Fiadh made the man assist her in making a large salad for them to share with the gloriously fresh produce, then threw together a vegetable chicken stir fry. There was already sweets for Katakuri to enjoy so she took two bowls while Katakuri took the remaining one and returned. When they got back to their rooms they both went into Katakuri’s to eat before separating for the night, they sat on the large couch next to one another to eat over the coffee table. Before leaving Fiadh sluggishly leaned against Katakuri’s side and wrapped one arm around him in a side hug of sorts. Katakuri tensed under the contact but quickly relaxed again.

“Thanks again for today.” The clearly sleepy woman mumbles out.

Katakuri awkwardly wraps his own army around her shoulders letting Fia’s head rest into his side and blushes at the warmth. He was wide awake now, thanks to Fiadh, yet she remained looking sleepy and content. That seemed quite unfair to him so he leaned down close to her ear not against his chest.

“Anytime Fiadh.” He says in a deep voice.

Fia’s eyes widen and she sits up away from him making him chuckle. 

“Goodnight! See you in the morning.” She says with her face flushed in embarrassment.

“Night.” He responds with a smirk despite his own flushed ears burning hot. 

That night they both sleep with a pleasant thrum of warmth coming from their marks. Maybe one day they can share the same kind of relationship the Ita’s seemed to have… Fiadh certainly hoped so.

Fiadh's tattoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so more of a future note, but would you all be interested in a chapter on Law and his fated person in this fic? Also would you like a more detailed heart-to-heart about Fiadh's past? Personally I enjoy piecing things together slowly, however, I understand that can be confusing.
> 
> 'Till next time~


	16. Mirror Mirror...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiadh damn near has a heart attack at stupid-o-clock in the morning. But it was made it up to her with a nice slow day with Katakuri!  
> Aries is scheming something... and Fia is having none of it.
> 
> This is a slow chapter to roll into both the climax and end of the Oka arc.

Fiadh found herself awake even further into the night and early morning thanks to Katakuri’s annoying stunt. During this time she spent most of it cursing the man and had half a mind to go wake him up as payback. However, as 2am crawled closer she gave up on such thoughts, sighing and deciding to meditate instead. Sitting on the carpeted floor by her bed she sat in front of a full body mirror showing her exhausted form, and a dresser she had laid some notebooks on earlier.

Breathing deeply in Fiadh begins with her normal grounding exercises, spending extra effort in keeping her mind clear, allowing the intrusive thoughts to fall away like water off a duck's back. Her mind felt blissfully empty for the first time in weeks, relishing in the weightless sensation that came with it Fiadh simply allows her mind to float.

A shaking sound draws her out of it. Discombobulated Fia can’t tell what time it is anymore, or how long she had been sitting in the lotus position. Judging from her tight hip flexors and sore neck it had been a considerable amount of time. Her grey eyes pierced the darkness around her searching for what had made a disturbance in the silent night.

Finding nothing obviously out of place she returns to looking at the wall she had been staring at before and sighs heavily. She felt mentally refreshed yet still thoroughly exhausted physically. Another shaking, rattle can be heard. Fiadh actually jumps this time and she glares as she sits up to look across the entirety of her room.

It is never a good sign when weird noises are heard in your room in a foreign place. Fiadh’s nerves are instantly grated, every sense firing, haki expanding as far as she possibly could. One servant walking the halls… 15 meters away, not the cause. Multitude of rooms with sleeping servants and residents… Katakuri still not giving off any presence to her is no surprise, so she can only hope he’s still in his room sleeping. The only hint she has is the continued warmth from her mark which was enough confirmation for her.

The shaking comes again, closer. Fiadh’s head whips to her side and scores over her dressing table. Then she realizes… she can’t see her reflection in the mirror anymore.

“What the fuck…” 

“Fi-uh!” came a muffled, slightly garbled call.

“I don’t remember summoning anything…” Fiadh says sarcastically as she stares into the mirror in curiosity mixed with horror.

“Fi-AH!” the call coming closer and louder.

“WHAT?!” Fiadh screams at the mirror in irritation. Demons be damned, just say something besides her name!

“Fia! I found you!” came a nasally voice. Suddenly Brulee’s face pops up on the other side of the mirror with a wide, twisted smile.

“BRULEE! HOLY SHIT!” Fiadh screeches in pure glee. “You scared the shit out of me! But it’s so good to see you, you crazy bitch!” 

Fiadh felt like her face was going to split with how widely she was smiling. She had been worried sick about Brulee and seeing her now in good health, getting to talk with her basically face to face, was overwhelming to say the least. She could see bandages peeking out from the collar and sleeves of Brulee’s dress, but she decided to dismiss it for now.

“That’s rude… How have you been?? How’s Katakuri-neesan?” Brulee’s own excitement and joy bleed into every word.

Their volume for talking was completely inappropriate for well past three in the morning, but neither could be bothered to give a damn.

“I’ve been great! More importantly, how are you?? Praline said you were injured… Have you recovered now?”

“Ah, I’m doing better! Well enough now to wander the Miro-world to find you. Took me a few days to find you, but I finally found you!”

“Oh, thank god… Please just say the word and I’ll send Darra to come pick you up Brulee. I honestly don’t feel comfortably leaving you there now.” Fiadh stares down at her hands in anger.

“It’s fine Fia-san. I know how to take care of myself here… But please tell me about your trip so far and my oneesan!” 

“Sorry! Yea, he’s doing well too. Definitely been keeping me on my toes… He gets cheekier by the day! You won’t believe what he’s recently been doing.” Fiadh proceeded to spend the next three hours telling Brulee everything that had recently happened. 

She made sure not to leave out any details, except the exceptionally embarrassing ones, and her personal matters. She trusted Brulee, however, she did not trust her family. Brulee stayed silent except the occasional laughter or expression of shock at Fiadh’s expressive storytelling. The woman didn’t seem to believe any of the recountments of her brothers recent acts of affection and was completely floored that the two of them had sparred without Fiadh being mammed. 

“Wow… That doesn’t sound like the Katakuri-neesan I know at all.” Brulee mutters in pure disbelief.

“Honestly I have a hard time believing it too…” Fiadh agrees, she had now inched closer to the tall mirror and grabbed multiple pillows off the bed to sprawl on while talking with Brulee. She even let the woman take a few to sit on in the mirror-world. The two had spent nearly half their time just discussing Katakuri since Brulee couldn’t get enough of this new version she was hearing about.

“Did… Did he really show you his face?” Brulee’s face seemed to darken with guilt.

“Hm? Yea he did. Wasn’t very willing to do it, which I don’t know the story; but he’s got a handsome face! It feels like a crime to hide it, though I also can’t say I mind being an exception in getting to see it.” Fiadh smiled softly as she remembered their awkward interaction at that time. She still felt guilty in how she had pushed him into accepting her words, but it seemed to have worked out in the end.

“I just find it so hard to believe… Not that I don’t trust you Fia!” Brulee waves her hands frantically before continuing, “I just… Just please don’t hurt him Fiadh-san.”

“Brulee…” Fiadh could tell just how attached she was to her brother and felt guilty that she might not be able to fulfill such a promise, “I have no intentions of ever hurting him, Brulee. But you have to understand the difficult situation that exists between us.”

“I know Fia… Just know that he really does seem to trust you. Maybe even more than his family.” Brulee seemed sad at the realization, but she honestly was glad it was Fiadh her brother was opening up to. It filled her with hope for finding her own fated match one day… Maybe she could have a similar connection then.

“I promise you I will not abuse or misuse the trust Katakuri has towards me in any way.” Fiadh says this with strong conviction and unwavering eye contact.

“Thank you Fiadh-san… I’m glad you’re Katakuri-neesans fated match.”

“Me too.”

There was a lull of comfortable silence until Brulee decided she was ready to change topics.

“So, how’s that dog patient of yours now?”

“Oh, he’s making a full recovery! I currently have one of the chefs begrudgingly feeding him and he’s smart enough to let himself out for his walks.” Fiadh laughs at the image of Asra’s displeased face when she let him know she’d be gone for a bit. The grumpy mutt seemed to have taken a liking to her regardless of his attempts to hide it.

“So interesting! How’re you so knowledgeable Fia?” Brulee says in amazement. 

“Hmm, I don’t know… I’ve just picked up a lot of knowledge over the years. But my mom taught me all I know about animals, and I had a mentor who taught me about food. My initial plan was to be a veterinarian, but it wasn’t a job that would make me too important to kill.”

Brulee seemed shocked at the bluntness of her words, but it made sense. Food was a necessity to live. Taking care of animals? Not quite as important. Fiadh had even tried going the food animal route, still wasn’t enough. Connections were what she needed.

“Well I should let you sleep at least a few hours… Sorry for keeping you up Fia. I’ll take this mirror with me so we can keep in touch more frequently!” Brulee says with a wide smile.

“Okay, good night Brulee. I loved chatting like this! Your ability is so amazing, hopefully we can chat again. I’ll steal this mirror if I fucking have to. Chat soon!” Fiadh says with her own large smile.

When Brulee disappears and Fiadh’s own reflection returns she feels a warmth in her chest, pure happiness at getting to see and chat with a friend. Though she didn’t discuss it Fia tended to have a lot of anxiety over friends going MIA as Brulee had. It instantly led to Fiadh creating worst-case-scenarios in her mind. Now that those could be laid to rest she could only feel content.

Crawling into her bed Fiadh easily passes out and drifts into a dreamless slumber. Despite everything, Fia felt she could conquer anything in the quickly approaching dawn. 

Though she hadn’t noticed due to being too engrossed in chatting with Brulee, Katakuri had popped his head into her room briefly after her initial screaming. It had startled him out of his deep slumber and had him sprinting to her room without even situating his scarf. It scared him shitless at how much the thought of Fiadh possibly being harmed affected him. It made his blood run cold, a cold sweat to build, and his heart to lurch into his throat. 

After seeing it was a scream of joy rather than terror Katakuri took a minute to appreciate Fiadh interacting with his sister. It was heartwarming how close the two were despite barely knowing one another, and only briefly meeting. It also entertained his thoughts of her being more willing than she said at staying connected to them. He truly hoped after this trip he could somewhat change her mind… 

The thought of separating even at this point made him feel nauseous. Even if they never crossed the line of being more than they were now he’d rather have her within arms reach than far across the ocean. His sporadic thoughts were calmed by the blooming warmth coming through their mark. Sometimes he wondered if it was Branwen’s attempt to smooth the process, or somehow his fated matches affect. Who knows. 

Regardless, the outside assistance was sometimes needed when two block headed work-a-holics are paired for life.

**_____________**

The following morning neither Fiadh nor Katakuri stir. They sleep well into the afternoon, and the surrounding servants unsure of what to do pace around their room doors for several hours in a rotation. There was not much planned for the day, however, they still should have made themselves available should the court need anything. 

Not to mention it was quite rude and like they were avoiding their host family. Which frankly Fiadh might as well be. She had no interest in dealing with the Aki family any further. She understood that wasn’t likely to actually work out but she could hope.

Fia was the first to stir awake, having a painful crick in her neck and her hips being locked up from the awkward angles she had slept in. Stretching her limbs and getting loud cracks from multiple joints making her groan.

“I’m getting old...” She mumbles as she tosses her hair to settle behind her shoulders. 

Deciding to wander to the kitchen, well aware it was well past any breakfast foods being to be found. In her sweatpants and tank top she drags her feet through the halls. When she got there she instantly knew what she wanted to make. Castella cake and coffee.

Gliding around the empty kitchen she got her ingredients and coffee going. Last time she had made them the bottoms of the cakes were denser than they should have been. This time she took some extra care into whisking the eggs more to air the batter. As she poured the batter into four square pans she contemplated how Katakuri might like his coffee.

At this point it was natural to simply know the man would also want a share of the food. They had enjoyed tea together, but coffee was a whole other story. She couldn’t really tell if she could peg him as a black coffee drinker, he liked sweets too much despite his serious facade.

Instead of taking the risk of ruining the coffee for anyone due to her assumptions she decided to take the entire pot of coffee with a small pitcher of cream and a cup filled with sugar. Normally the cream was as much as Fia would put in her coffee, on rough mornings black coffee was all she craved. She noted the cream was from the Nubian-Aquita and was much sweeter and thicker than normal cream.

Thinking about coffee always brought her insomniatic brat to mind and his unhealthy obsession with the strongest, black coffee he can find. She should probably find some to bring to him when she visits next… Might make him less of a piss ant to deal with.

Placing everything she had made onto a large tray and began walking back to Katakuri’s room to wake the man up. As she passed various servants they looked at her with wide eyes and confused expressions at what she was carrying or maybe her attire. She didn’t care regardless. 

Fiadh picked up heavy footsteps coming up behind her and slowly siddled to the wall to get out of whoevers path it might be. She had no interest in garnering anyones attention in her current hazy state; she had decided to wait for Katakuri to share in the glorious caffeinated beverage on the tray. Now she mildly regretted not helping herself first. She knew he wouldn’t have cared regardless.

“Fiadh-san!” came a deep but friendly voice that instantly set Fiadh on edge. It was the Aki’s son, Aries.

“Yes?” came her clipped response. Turning her eyes lazily to the side to stare at the man dressed in similarly pristine robes as yesterday. How exhausting…

“How are you? Did you have any plans for today?” He asked with the same smile that reminded her of an excited puppy. His eyes seemed to wander over everything, from what she was carrying to what she was wearing.

“Yes, to eat the food I made and rest. The trip here was long.” She said, curt and as amiable as she could muster. The man was annoying but hadn’t done anything particularly rude unlike his father.

“Can I join you? Or could I borrow some of your time this evening for a meal?” He asked, completely unbothered by her harsh tone.

Sighing Fiadh released one hand from the still perfectly balanced tray to ruffle her hair back in irritation. 

“With all due respect, I would like to have a peaceful day today. I plan on spending some time with the individual I am travelling with to discuss our next stop. Please don’t seek me out unless the counsel needs something.” Fiadh felt a pang of guilt at the crushed face the prince had so she sighed again in defeat. “If you would like we can do that tour I was offered by the Ita families son as a group. Katakuri will likely join as well.”

The man's eyes seemed to fill with stars as he grinned widely giving him a childish appearance once again which was interesting coming from such a large and built man. If he were to take a more serious countenance he would almost be intimidating. Not nearly to Katakuri’s level, but nonetheless intimidating. Fiadh wondered if her own wide grins gave her the same look. Probably.

“Yes! Sounds perfect. I’m looking forward to it already, I’ll let you enjoy your rest day. Until then, Fiadh-san.” The prince ended with a slight bow and a hand raise requesting her own. 

Fiadh hesitantly offered her right hand to the man which he lightly pressed his lips to before standing as if to watch her departure. As she turned Fiadh just barely caught a glimpse of a worrisome smirk on his face. Her gut immediately sounded an alarm that she had fucked up again. Fia immediately made a mental note to ask the Ita son about the significance of kissing the back of a woman’s hand to the Oka people.

Aries meanwhile departed with a look that sent all the servants scrambling away in fear. He had clearly seen it. A black mark that supposedly decided your fated person. Proudly displayed by the woman who continually wore provocative attire wherever she went. He felt himself grin wickedly and had to school his features before someone saw. 

She quickly and quietly arrived at Katakuri's room which she let herself into without knocking. Fia was certain the man wouldn’t care anyway. He was sprawled across his bed, dwarfing the large bed making her giggle. The man's normally serious face was relaxed of its normal scowl, and drool pooled out of his mouth as he laid on his back. 

Setting the tray on the coffee table she strided over to the bed and sat on the edge to appreciate this new side of her fated match. Her mark dully warmed as she continued to let her eyes rake over his face, hair, scarred mouth, and finally resting on his lips. They looked chapped and slightly cracked but nonetheless enticing.

She swallowed thickly before reaching a hand and carding it through his spiky sleep tousled hair. Reveling in how soft it was and the way the man made a soft noise of appreciation for the soothing touch. Fiadh felt a soft genuine smile take over her features, she hadn’t felt this indescribable happy flutter in her stomach in decades… The softest, purest form of happiness she knew.

“Hey, Katakuri.” She whispered while lightly raking her nails across his scalp.

“Hmm…” Came a garbled moan from the man.

Fiadh softly ruffled his hair and brought her other hand up to gently nudge his shoulder, “Katakuri~ I brought sweets!’

That got a visible twitch across his face as he grunted and his brows scrunched. A clear sign he was waking up. Fiadh went by to slowly brushing her fingers through his short locks of burgundy hair. 

“Fi-ah?” Katakuri’s slurred words elicited another soft giggle from Fiadh as she smiled softly down at the man.

“Yup, in the flesh.”

“What..?” His clear confusion and disorientation were highly amusing for Fia to watch.

“I brought breakfast.” She said nodding her head towards the coffee table.

Katakuri hummed and let his eyes shut again. Without moving he stretched his long limbs out and tilted his head further into Fiadh’s hand still tangled in his hair. He looked completely uninterested in moving and Fiadh was half tempted to lean down next to him and just join in an impromptu nap. However, the sweets wouldn’t be nearly as fresh and coffee would go cold.

“Katakuriii, you should get up and eat the sweets I made just for you!” Fiadh said in an amused tone.

“Hm… Comfy.” The large man grunted the words out with a scowl and still refused to open his eyes again.

Fiadh was rather surprised by his childish reaction and again laughed at the man. Taking her hand away she sighed in false sadness and moved to stand from the edge of the bed. 

“Guess I’ll just have to go eat them all myself.”

As she stepped away a hand shot out, extending in part with mochi, to stop her from the man still lying on his back. His one open eye glared at her in clear irritation.

“Fine, I’m up.” He said in an almost pouty tone.

“Hahah! Okayy” Fiadh walked back over and ruffled his scruffy hair with a large grin.

The hand still holding her wrist tugged her down into the bed. Katakuri clearly unamused with her morning antics sat up and roughly tousled Fiadh’s hair sending it into a tangled mess. Her face ended up shoved into the mattress with half her body crumpled on the floor next to the bed from Katakuri pulling her down.

A muffled grunt could be heard as Fiadh peeled her face off the mattress, “Fucking RUDE!” She yells while slamming a fist into the man's gut.

Katakuri let the punch be absorbed by mochi and laughed at Fiadh’s angry face. 

“Yea, well I’m not the one who barged into your room to wake you up.” Katakuri said with a smug smirk.

“I was very nice in how I woke you up. I now regret no suplexing your ass off your bed.”

Fiadh stood up gracefully and tried to fix her tangled hair as she walked away to the couch to get herself some coffee. Her head was starting to pound from the lack of caffeine and Katakuri’s antics did not help it at all.

“Come on, I brought some yummy castella cakes.” Fiadh called over her shoulder.

Katakuri ruffled his own hair feeling a little guilty for pulling the woman down as he saw the tightness in her brows tipping him off that she had a headache. He found he picked up on the smallest things now when it came to her. And while convenient it also led to even more turbulent emotions he didn’t know how to act upon.

“Ok.”

Wearing only a loose pair of sweatpants and deciding against grabbing his scarf he walked over to join Fiadh on the small couch. It wasn’t actually a small couch but with both their large frames it was rather crowded. Their legs and shoulders brushed against one another as they made up their plates of food and coffee sitting in a comfortable silence.

“Did you actually want to discuss our next stop?” Katakuri broke the silence with his face still stuffed with a castella cake. They were delicious and went well with the hazelnut roasted coffee Fiadh had brought. He honestly could say this was the best morning wakeup he’d ever received and would be lying if he said he didn’t want Fia to do it again.

“Might as well… Hopefully this Oka nonsense will be over in a day or so and we can head out. We have the eternal log pose for Tamashii island correct? We’ll then have to let our regular log pose set for 26 hours to go to the next island Sutēki, our only truly non-baking related stop.”

“We’re all set. Tamashii island has what exactly?” Katakuri asks with a slight head tilt.

Though he had skimmed over the list of stops he was honestly not interested in what they had to offer. It was more Fiadh’s job anyway, and at this point he had a shocking amount of trust in the woman doing that job well.

“Eggs, they have a giant hybrid-chicken that lays massive eggs. They’re known to taste heavenly as well because of the professionally curated diet they’re kept on. The people do not worship the chickens, but they are held in high regard as the number one money producer for the island.”

“Hm… dinosaur chickens, fun. What’s the climate going to be like?”

“Cold. It’s a fall/winter island and not going to be pleasant after Oka’s warm climate.” Fiadh feels her back already tightening at the prospect.

“Okay. Well I’m sure you already have a plan, you can fill me in when we are on our way there.” 

“Sounds good. Oh, I talked to your sister by the way!”

“Yea I could hear you two cackling loudly well past midnight.” Katakuri gave the shorter woman an amused side eye as he reclined back into the couch to relax.

Fiadh followed his lead and leaned into his side to steal warmth as she nursed her cup of coffee. 

“Hm… Not sorry. I still like your sister better.” She said with a cheeky grin.

“Ha! Not surprising, too bad she wasn’t your fated match.” Katakuri sneers and feels a prickle of irritation at the thought even though he’s the one that says it.

“Katakuri. You know that’s not true. Even though it’s complicated, I am happy you’re my fated match.” Fiadh sat up to make direct eye contact with the taller man. 

Katakuri felt an embarrassed heat flood his face and brought a hand up to cover the bottom of his face. 

“Sorry, that was insensitive.”

“Little bit, but that’s okay. So long as you know I’m content with this if you are too!” Fiadh states in a confident voice.

“Hm, agreed.” Katakuri’s response was soft and he barely could force himself to continue looking in Fiadh’s direction.

When she turned back to her coffee he sighed in relief and continued eating the sweet cake. The hair on the back of his neck raised slightly as he felt Fiadh’s warmth settle back into his side. It was satisfying and unnerving, he was not at all used to this sort of contact.

The rest of the day they spent lounging around in Katakuri’s room with little to no conversation. Katakuri borrowed one of Fiadh’s fictional books to read and she did work on notes and made calls for their upcoming stop. She also made a call to check in on Asra and apologize to the poor traumatized cooks bringing the cranky mutt his meals. He was surprised that he wasn’t at all bored with the book Fia had given him and it kept his undivided attention for the day.

Katakuri requested a maid to bring them dinner and dessert to his room. Fiadh appreciated him doing so without disturbing her work in the slightest. He even made her a plate when it arrived, albeit the portion was a tad large. The cherry on top for the day was getting to bed relatively early to correct both of their fucked up sleep schedules.

**_____________**

The following morning Fiadh was rudely awoken by knocking on her door from a servant announcing breakfast. She didn’t remember having any official breakfast plans but she didn’t fight it. Rolling off her bed led to a resounding crack from her knees and shoulders that she ignored in favour of stretching her back. 

Quickly she changed into her typical attire of a white button down, black slim-fit jeans into her boots, her green sash, and hair pulled into a high ponytail. She threw her golden cuff on her wrist, and set her hair pin into her ponytail. Leaving her room quickly she stopped and knocked on Katakuri’s room. Hearing no noise from within cued her on the fact she was the only one awoken by the servants. 

“Hm.” Fiadh hummed to herself in thought, deciding against waking up her travel companion she headed down the hallway to where she knew the dining room was. 

When she let herself into the dining hall without allowing a servant to introduce her all heads in the room swerved to her. Fia unbothered by the stares yawned and ruffled her hair as she took a seat at the table next to the daughter of the Aki family, Arena. She seemed wide eyed at the entrance but showed little expression otherwise. Fiadh took note it was just the two children and the parents were nowhere to be seen.

This instantly allowed some residual tension to ease from Fia as she took note of the overly rich breakfast being laid in front of her. She personally did not love heavy breakfasts and more often than not substituted it for coffee.

“Fiadh-san! I’m glad you decided to join us.” Aries says with his typical puppy-dog grin.

“Mhm. Actually woke up before noon today.” Fia said in a dismissive tone.

“Are we still good to go out today?”

This question seemed to garner Arena’s attention with the slightest of head tilts. Fiadh glanced at the princess before smirking.

“Yea, Arena-san would you like to join?” Fiadh used honorifics despite the woman being younger and her clear lack of respect for the Aki family.

“Um…” The timid princess looked to her brother who for a split second had a dark scowl on his face before switching back to his normal grin.

Fiadh’s sharp steel-colored eyes did not miss this reaction as she patiently watched the two’s interaction.

“Yea that would be a good idea sister.” Aries said with only slight hesitation.

“Okay then…” Despite her brother's displeasure, the princess looked almost happy at the invitation.

Fiadh had a feeling she would get along just fine with the sheltered princess. Unlike her annoying brother.

“Great! We’ll have a pretty large group, but the more the merrier.” Fiadh says with a sickly sweet smile.

“Okay, we’ll leave after breakfast then! Anywhere you’d like to go first Fiadh-san?” Aries says this while cutting off his sister that looked like she wanted to say something to Fia.

“Hm… Well we’ll have to get the Ita family's son to go to the Nubian-Aquita farm. Before that I would like to go to the best jewelers shop with gold you know of.” Fiadh says this with a fond smile that instantly garners the prince's attention.

“Oh? Getting a gift for someone or just shopping?”

Fiadh raises a single finger to her lips in a shushing motion, “That’s my own personal business Aries.” 

With that Fiadh stole a mug of coffee from the table having hardly eaten anything on her plate and left the dining hall. Waving over her shoulder she called out one last time.

“I’ll see you two out front in about an hour. I have a giant to awaken.”

Fiadh and Katakuri being cute. I hate digital and I apologize for how shit this is but it took forever so here it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forget Katakuri, Brulee and Fiadh should just date instead.
> 
> Anyone wanna guess what Aries is scheming? ;)


End file.
